Bound
by GreenGrass1
Summary: It is not easy being different, as Sage, descendant of legendary farmer Angela, learned growing up. However, she had found a foolproof way of solving any problem comes her way: pack up her stuff and move to the next town! OC x Gill. I don't own HM.
1. Chapter 1: Inheritance

Revised to correct plot hole. I don't own HM.

Chapter 1: Inheritance

"I am glad that you decided to come and claim your inheritance, er...miss?", Mayor Hamilton turned around and faced the young woman. She is so young, he thought. He had hoped that she would stay and take over the farm, but he wasn't so sure now. She didn't seem like a farming type. She had a pale face with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her facial features were unremarkable, but for the huge, light amber eyes, framed by long, dark eyelashes. Although her slender figure didn't looked frail, she also did not look like a sturdy farm stock that Hamilton has hoped for.

"Sage. My name is Sage", the girl answered as she surveyed the farm. The farm had seen better days, she concluded. But, she thought, with some elbow grease, surely she could turn this farm around. She felt butterflies in her stomach. Her own farm. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. The spring air was fresh with light flowery scent. She stood there with her eyes closed for a second, afraid that the farm and the house would disappear if she opened her eyes, afraid that she would wake up and found that it was just a dream. But then she realized how ridiculous she must looked to Hamilton, standing there with her eyes closed, so she told herself to get a grip and opened her eyes.

"I am sorry to hear about your mother", Hamilton said. "I wish that I could have tracked you both sooner, after your father passed away. I was having a hard time tracking you down and I was about to give up after years of searching. It was just recently that I finally found a traveling merchant who knew where you were."

"I understand Mr. Hamilton. It's not your fault. My mother and I, we moved around a lot, you see", Sage smiled at Hamilton. Her smile was warm and with the sun over her face, her eyes seemed to glow golden. She detected some reluctance on the Mayor's part.

"But I assure you, I am not afraid of hard work. I have decided to stay and work this farm...", Sage said. Wait, she thought, what was that? She cocked her head towards the house. It was slight but she could definitely hear it.

"Well, than let me be the first to welcome you to Harmonica town. I am sure that you are tired and you need some time to settle down so I will take my leave. Please come and see me at the town hall and I would give you the deeds of the property", Hamilton shook the girl's hand. He turned around and started his path towards the town center. After a few steps, he looked back at the girl, the house and the dis-repaired farm, and waved.

Sage waved back at the kindly, old mayor and then turned her attention back at the house. There, she thought, near the barn, that was where the sobbing coming from. She didn't think the mayor could hear that quiet cry and she didn't want to alarm him. After all, this wouldn't be her first time hearing something that other people couldn't. Over the years, she had learned that some people would become less welcoming, to the point that some would try to hurt her, when they found out that she had magic coursing through her blood. Not that she agreed with them, but sometimes she could almost understand their point of view. Some magical creatures, be it fae, goblins or wizards, were known to wreak havoc and cause untold misery to humans.

Sage walked towards the barn and opened the barn door slowly. After her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the barn, she walked gingerly towards a stall and looked inside. On a little mound of old hay, on the stall floor, sat a small, sparkly fae. The creature was luminous, emitting soft, bluish aura. He...Sage was almost sure it was a he...was sobbing furiously into a tiny handkerchief.

"Ah, there you are...are...are you okay?" Sage said gently but kept her distance from the creature. Not all magical creatures were malevolent of course, but until you were sure, it was never a bad idea to keep your distance from them. She focused her will on the magic talisman wound around her left wrist and conjured an invisible, magical shield between her and the creature. It was never a bad idea to take an extra precaution, she thought.

"What? Who are you?...you could see me?" The fae shot up few inches in the air with surprise. His paper-thin, dragonfly wings fluttered.

"Yes, I can see you...my name is Sage. Are you okay?"

"Yes...I mean, no..no, I am not okay...I don't know what to do...I am so useless...poor Harvest Goddess...waahh!" the creature resumed his crying with gusto. Then he suddenly stopped.

"Wait, you can see me right? Are you the witch of Fugue forest? Are you the Tree Guardian?" the creature asked Sage, hopefully.

"Er...no, I am not", said Sage.

"Then we are all doomed!" the creature wailed, burying his face into his handkerchief. Sage covered her ears with her hands and looked at the tiny creature with awe. How did such a small body produce such a loud shriek, she wondered. She decided that the creature did not look evil and disbanded her magic shield.

"Okay, okay calm down. Everything will be fine. Why don't you tell me what happened to you? What's your name?" Sage said gently.

"My name is...is Finn...fpfft!" Finn blew his nose loudly into his kerchief and then sat down on the floor forlornly as he continued his tale.

"I am a harvest sprite. Fifteen years ago, a wicked and powerful witch destroyed our Goddess tree and imprisoned our queen, the Harvest Goddess, into another realm by a powerful spell. With the tree and Harvest Goddess gone, we the harvest sprites, fell into a deep sleep. Last night, the Goddess managed to break free from her prison for a moment and amassed enough magical energy to wake me up. She mentioned the witch of the Fugue forest and the Guardian, the Tree Guardian. So I think The Guardian or the witch ought to be able to destroy the spell and free her. I rushed here, where the Guardian used to live, only to find that he was long dead. I thought...I thought maybe you are the Witch since you can see me and you can help the Goddess but you are not. So we are doomed! It's over! We are all going to die!" Finn once again broke into an open-mouth wail. Giant teardrops burst out from his eyes.

"Guardian? But this...this was my father's farm. Are you saying that my father was the Tree Guardian?" Sage asked Finn. Fifteen years ago...she thought. That was exactly the time when her father has told her mother to take five-year old Sage and leave the house, never to return. She couldn't remember much of her father. However, the little memory she had seemed to tell her that he was a loving and kind father. All her life she was trying to understand why, one day, he decided to kick her and her mother out of the farm. Her mind was churning. One of the reasons why Sage had decided to return to Harmonica town was to find out why her father did what he did fifteen years ago. Why not, Sage shrugged. If it proved to be too much trouble, she would just move on, just as she had always done, she reasoned.

"Okay, Finn, there must be a reason why the Goddess chose to wake you, of all the sprites. And there is something that I really want to find out. I will do what I can to help you figure this out, to save the Goddess and revive the Tree. What do you say?" Sage said with what she hoped was her bravest and most confident smile.

Finn looked up at Sage. He didn't think they would have a chance in hell of saving the Goddess. A human girl and the youngest, smallest sprite of all harvest sprites? Nope, not a chance. But somehow, the idea gave him a glimmer of hope.

"Yes, yes...maybe, maybe we can. But we have to find the Witch of the Fugue forest. The Goddess said we have to find her" Finn, who was now excited by the idea of saving Harvest Goddess, flew around Sage leaving faint, chaotic trails of sparkles.

"Okay, I just have to unpack a few things in the house, and pick up some papers from the town hall", Sage started walking out of the barn and towards the house, with Finn fluttering behind her.

"Then we can try to find this witch", she added.

End of Chapter

Please review. English is not my first language so I apologize in advance if the grammar is incorrect, etc.


	2. Chapter 2: Do You Believe In Magic?

Gill let out a long sigh. His hand combed through his blond hair absently. His ocean blue eyes scanned the mound of papers lying on his desk. He was dressed impeccably as usual in a crisp shirt, a tailored creamy vest and matching dress pants. His suit jacket was draped carefully over his chair. There was so much work to do, he thought. Too much. At this rate, he would forever playing catch up and still wouldn't be able to file all these paperwork. Years worth of neglected paperwork. If only his father, Mayor Hamilton, could be persuaded to learn how to file his own papers...

"Excuse me", a voice broke Gill's train of thought. He looked up and saw a face he had never seen before. Across the counter that separated his working space and the waiting area, there was a young woman. She was wearing what Gill thought was a mismatch of clothing: a tank top over a t-shirt, a short skirt over shorts and a pair of heavy work boots with thick, woolen socks peaking over the top of the boots. There was a bracelet made from colorful glass beads braided in leather wound around her left wrist.

"Can I help you?" Gill asked, as he reminded himself not to be overly critical of others' style of clothing. Not everyone has a good sense of fashion.

"I am here to see Mayor Hamilton. Is he in?" the girl responded.

"I am sorry but he is not in at the moment. I am his son and deputy mayor, Gill. Is there anything I can do for you?" Gill asked as his eyes returned to the mound of papers waiting to be filed.

"Maybe you can. My name is Sage. The Mayor had asked me to drop by to pick up my paperwork, you see."

So this is the new farmer, Gill thought. His curiosity was peaked. He gave Sage a second glance. Gill wasn't an expert in farming per se, but he knew that farm work was a lot of physical work and this slender girl in front of him didn't seem to be overly strong.

"Yes, I have your paperwork here. Just give me a moment to find it." Gill bent down to open his drawer's desk. And as he bent down, he thought he saw something sparkle around the girl's shoulder at the corner of his eye. Instantly he looked up. What was that, he thought. He stared at the girl's shoulder trying to see if he could see that sparkle again.

"Is everything okay?"Sage asked. She was getting a little uncomfortable. This young man standing behind the counter, the one she just met, seemed startled about something and now he was staring intently at her right shoulder. For a second, it occurred to her that maybe he could see Finn who was fleeting about her shoulder.

"Uh...nothing. Sorry, I...didn't mean to stare. I thought I saw something sparkly around your shoulder", Gill shrugged. He then proceeded to open the desk drawer and pull out a large, brown envelope.

"I see," said Sage. Interesting, she thought. Could this man almost see Finn, she wondered. Throughout her life and travel, she had met a few people with varying degrees of magic in their blood, and she was wondering if Gill was one of them.

"Are you sure you didn't see anything around my shoulder?" she asked, as she approached the counter that separated her and Gill's work area.

What kind of stupid question was that, Gill groaned inwardly, shaking his head. Ignoring her question, he placed the papers and the brown envelope on the counter.

"Could you please sign this receipt? And these papers are all yours", he uncapped his fountain pen and offered it to Sage.

"Beautiful town, but very quiet. I didn't see too many locals on my way here", Sage making small talk as she took the pen and signed the receipt.

"Yes, we used to have more people. But in the past few years, more and more people are leaving this town".

"Why is that?" Sage asked casually as she re-capped the pen and place it on the counter.

"Well, you know, there is not much to do around here. The land has becoming less and less fertile every year. Farm animals producing less and lower quality goods. Even the sailors are complaining about the wind and the sea not cooperating. Ever since the Harvest Goddess..."Gill stopped suddenly. He had said too much and it was not his intention to discourage the new farmer. He knew full well that the survival of his beloved town depended on more people moving into the town, not out of it.

"Since the Harvest Goddess...?" Sage encouraged Gill to continue. Her golden eyes reminded Gill of a cat, or maybe a tiger. They were intelligent and curious.

"Since people believe that the Harvest Goddess has abandoned this town...has abandoned them," Gill sighed.

"Is that what _you_ believe?" Sage asked in conspiratorial tone, leaning forward with both of her elbows resting on the counter. She looked directly into Gill's eyes.

"Doesn't matter what I believe. There was no such thing as Harvest Goddess or magic anyway," Gill snapped. He stepped away from counter and sat on his desk.

Sage shrugged. Her hands moved quickly to gather all her papers and placed them in the large, brown envelope.

"Well, I like to keep an open mind. I ...um...have met people who said they could see magical creatures, that these creatures really existed. If you keep an open mind, maybe you would be able to see it, that's what I think. Good day." Sage continued as she turned around and walk out of the Town Hall office, with the large envelope tucked under her arm.

Great, a crazy one, Gill rolled his eyes. His father, the Mayor, had mentioned that Sage was supposedly the daughter of Vincent and the granddaughter of Angela, the town legendary farmer. His father had told him that before Sage and her mother left town fifteen years ago, Gill used to spend a lot of his time at Vincent's farm playing with little Sage. He honestly couldn't remember any of this, but curiously, Sage had brought back some memories of his childhood when he insisted that he has seen a "harvest sprite". But as he grew older, he himself had stopped believing, and he had never seen the creature again. He had concluded that the creature he thought he saw was simply a product of his childish and overactive imagination. Nothing more. He nodded to himself and went back to his work.

End of Chapter 2

Review is welcome.


	3. Chapter 3: Damsel in Distress

Chapter 3: A Damsel In Distress

Fugue Forest in the middle of the night was definitely creepy, Sage concluded. She regretted coming into the forest at night. She should have waited for daytime but Finn's sense of urgency had convinced her to nose around in this creepy forest at night. She gripped her axe with both hands in front of her. She had hoped that bringing the axe would make her feel braver. Sadly, it didn't. She was still scared out of her wits. She was about to open her mouth and tell Finn that she had enough, that she was going to turn around and head home when she lurched forward, tripping over a tree root for the umpteenth time. She cursed under her breath.

"Sage, look!" Finn whispered. Sage regained her balance and looked up. In the distance she could make out a shape of a small cottage. That must be the witch's house, she thought. She and Finn had just stumbled into a swamp. Across the swamp, a small, stone cottage stood on a clearing. There was a tattered and dangerous-looking bridge across the swamp, leading towards the cottage. The hair at the back of Sage's neck stood. What could be creepier than a witch cottage by a swamp in the middle of a forest? Now Sage realized, albeit too late, why mothers usually told their children to stay away from the forest. She took a deep breath.

"Let's go,"she croaked. Her throat felt dry. She cautiously tested the bridge, and when she was satisfied that the ratty bridge would hold her weight, she slowly crossed the swamp. She stepped towards the cottage, fighting the urge to bolt and she was about to knock at the door when a female voice rung from the inside of the cottage.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the voice asked. Sage jumped. She felt a cold air flew passed her face.

"My...my name is Sage. I..I am looking for the Witch of Fugue Forest."

"Go away or I'll turn you and your faery into a frog!" the voice ordered.

"Please... I...I am not here to cause any trouble. I just want to ask the witch some questions about...about the Harvest Goddess."

The cottage door flung open. A beautiful girl who looked about Sage's age was standing at the doorway. She had a pale, ivory skin with long, pearly, hair. Her eyes were the color of burgundy wine. She looked at Sage intently for a second, then a small sneer formed at the corner of her mouth.

"I have not seen the Goddess for the past fifteen years. And no one has asked me any question about her since..." the Witch's eyebrows knitted in concentration for a second.

"Since that fair-haired boy came here and asked questions about sprites and the Goddess, ten years ago. He was scared and shaking all over but he came to see me anyway. What a brave, little boy...cute too. He wanted to know if I knew where the Goddess was..." the Witch purred. Her voice was all silk and velvet.

"The Goddess was trapped into another realm by an evil witch fifteen years ago," Finn whispered. He was peaking at the Witch from behind Sage's right shoulder. He was not sure why he was afraid of this witch but his instinct told him that she was not someone to be trusted.

"Is that so Sprite? And who was this evil witch?" the Witch's crimson eyes were now focused on Finn.

"I...I don't know who it was. It happened so fast, we didn't even know that the Goddess was gone until the Tree started dying. I think the Guardian knew something but he wouldn't tell us. For our own good, he said," Finn answered. His tiny fingers clutched Sage's tank top strap.

"And where is the Guardian now?" the witch moved slowly towards Sage and Finn which caused them to back away.

"Unfortunately, the Guardian passed away long time ago," Sage said, trying to keep her voice from faltering. The Witch sized Sage up and down. Her brain was churning. This human girl looked familiar, could she be...?

"Well, don't just stand there by the door. You let cold air in. Come in and close the door." the Witch of Fugue forest turned around abruptly and walked into what seemed to be the living room. She selected a comfortable chair by the fireplace and sat.

"You reminded me of someone, girlie. Tell me, what is your relationship with the Guardian?" The Witch trained her eyes on Sage, while her fingers absently twirled her hair.

"He was my father." Sage answered.

"Is that so? Yes, I thought I recognized you. You were only a child when I saw you a long time ago. You have grown up, of course."

"You saw me when I was little? But...how old are you?" Sage blurted out. Of course she knew it was impolite to ask a woman her age, but this witch didn't seem to be that much older than her.

"One hundred and fifty seven...I think...I have lost count. But that is not important. The important thing is that yes, I knew your father. And no, I don't know how to help the Goddess, well not yet anyway." the Witch answered.

"Not yet? What do you mean "not yet"?" Sage asked.

"I was struck with a powerful spell a long time ago when I was battling an enemy, which robbed me of most of my magical power. I would need my full power back before I could tell you how to help the Goddess. That's what you want, correct? To help the Goddess?" the Witch smiled.

"Yes!" Sage and Finn answered in unison.

"Fine, then you will help me before I can help you. There is a wizard, a powerful one, living in Harmonica Town. Convince him to help me regain my power and I will help you."

"But you said that he lives in Town, why don't you ask him yourself? He was not your enemy, was him?" Sage asked cautiously. You do not want to get tangled with the wars between wizards. Not if you could help it.

"No, he was not my enemy. My enemy disappeared a long time ago, but the spell which stripped me of my power, also confined me to this forest. I couldn't cross the forest border and go to town, which is why it is up to you to convince the wizard".

"Then convince the wizard, I will", Sage responded. She turned and walked towards the door. After a few steps she stopped and turned around.

"What should I call you? I don't want to call you just "Witch". What name should I call you?" Sage asked.

The Witch let out a long, throaty laugh before she answered, "As if! As if I would tell you my name, foolish girl. Don't you know that when a magical creature told you her name, you would have power over her? No, girlie, you can call me Witch. Period."

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4: The Wizard's Quest

Chapter 4: Wizard's Quest

The Sun was setting on the next day when Sage found herself standing in front of the Wizard's house in town. She had spent the whole morning weeding and trying to hoe the farm plots on her new farm. The task proved to be much harder than she had anticipated. The soil was hard, dry and infertile. Finn had told her of course, that without the Harvest Goddess, the natural world in the Goddess' realm, which was Harmonica town and its surrounding, was dying and would continue to die. Growing crops and raising animals would be much harder and require much more work. This revelation did not bode well for Sage who was trying to start a new life as a farmer and put a damper into an otherwise fine spring day.

On top of that, Sage had been talking to the townsfolk trying to figure out where the Wizard lived. The townsfolk had mentioned a "fortune-teller" living in a small house nearby the town center, but no one seemed to think that he was a full-pledged wizard. The young man in the town hall office, Gill, had looked at her as if she had her head screwed backward when she asked him if he knew of a wizard living in town. He then told her that if she wanted to have her fortune read, she could visit the fortune-teller. But, he further informed her in that snappy tone of his, she would be wasting her time as no one could see the future and she would be better off focusing on her work on the farm. How was the farm anyway? Has she managed to plant anything? He had quizzed her. Sage thought that he was about to launch into a passionate speech on the virtue of hard work and quickly changed the subject by asking him whether he knew where she could get a part-time job. He seemed pleased with that question and informed her that she could work part-time at the town hall if she wished. Somehow Gill's stern gaze managed to make Sage felt guilty, and she found herself committing to work part-time for three mornings a week at the town hall office. She definitely needed the money as her savings had dwindled, and soon enough she wouldn't even have enough to buy food, but working for that uptight man...Sage shuddered. Nevertheless, beggars couldn't be choosers.

So Sage was not in the best of moods when she knocked at the Wizard's door. She wasn't sure that she was in the right place. But as her knuckles touched the door, her skin tingled, which told her that the door had been magically enchanted. The protection magic on the door was powerful, much more powerful and intricate than she could ever conjure. With enchanted door like this, you wouldn't be able to cross it if you meant to harm the inhabitant of the house. Furthermore, you would need an invitation from the inhabitant to be able to enter the house. This was definitely the right place. Her mood improved significantly.

The door creaked open, and a tall, young man with smooth olive skin and silvery hair, shadowed the doorway. He had a handsome face, which was made peculiar with a pair of mismatched eyes. His right eye was green and his left sky blue.

"Yes...?" the young man greeted her.

"Oh, hello...I am looking for the wizard", Sage chirped brightly.

The Wizard saw Finn fleeting around Sage, and at once, he sensed the girl's magical aura. A fledgling one, he thought, very young and not very powerful. He stepped aside. He found it curious that this girl was asking for a wizard, and not for the "fortune-teller".

"I am...the...Wizard. Come in..." the wizard was talking slowly and pausing often in between words, as if he was not accustomed to speech. He turned around and gestured Sage to follow him into a small room just to the right of the entrance. Large, leather-bound books overflowed the shelves and were piled on every surface in that small room, with lit candles doted the spaces in between the books. The only surface that was not burdened with books and candles was a small, round table flanked by two chairs in the middle of the room. There was only a crystal ball on that round table. The Wizard sat on one of the chairs and mutely gestured to Sage to take the other.

"My name is Sage and I need your help," Sage sat on the chair across from the Wizard. The Wizard nodded, his fingers brushed the crystal ball gently. Silently, he waited for Sage to continue.

"Or more accurately, the Witch of the Fugue forest, needs your help", Sage continued.

The Wizard tilted his head slightly. Curious, he thought. Usually when a human came to see him, he or she would want to have their fortunes read, or asked for his help to find lost items. He tried to remember when was the last time he had seen the Witch. It finally dawned to him that he had not seen her ever since he had moved back into Harmonica Town a few months ago. He wondered what kind of trouble the Witch was in. A really big one for sure, he mused, for the Witch of the Fugue forest did not usually associate herself with a fledgling human, albeit a magical one, lest asking one of them for help.

"She has lost her power, you see, and she was wondering if you could help restore her power. Please, could you help her?" Sage wasn't sure that the Wizard had heard her as he was just sitting there, staring into his crystal ball with his facial expression unchanged.

The Wizard hesitated. He didn't usually mind helping humans who found their ways onto his doorstep. Over the years, he had even grown to like the humankind, simultaneously fascinated by their resourcefulness and spirit, and repulsed by their lack of magic. He had even loved one particular human, a long time ago. Yes, he did not mind at all. Especially, since his specialty was the the magic of the Spirit Eye, which made finding a missing ring, or gazing into someone's heart, a child's play for him. But, a spell that could rob a pure-blooded magic creature such as the Witch, would be a very powerful spell indeed. A very powerful witches or wizards such as himself could do it, or...the Wizard mulled the idea in his head. Or, a blood ritual performed by magical humans. If it was another witches or wizards, he would have to tread carefully, as there were many different factions in the magic community and he did not want to break the uneasy truce between the factions by sticking his nose into something that was not his business. If it was a magical human...now why would a human want to harm the Witch?

"Er, excuse me... I said..." Sage was about to repeat herself but stopped, as the Wizard raised his right hand to silence her.

"Let's...see...the Witch," the Wizard said as he rose from his seat. He grabbed his wooden staff, which was rested against one of the walls of the room, and walked towards the front door, pausing for a minute to put on his long, heavy cloak which was hung on a simple metal hook on the wall. Then he offered his left arm to Sage.

"Hold...my arm. Close your...eyes. You too, Sprite...", he commanded. Sage obeyed and instantaneously, she felt warm air swirling around her. She opened her eyes and found that she, Finn and the Wizard were now standing in front of the Witch's house in the middle of the forest. That was some awesome magic, she thought. She wondered if she could ask the Wizard to teach her.

The Wizard knocked at the door gently with his staff, and stepped back. The door swung opened and the Witch was standing at the doorway. She looked a little peeved at first but then her face brightened as she saw the Wizard.

"Finally you come to see me, Wizard. It has been a long time..." she purred, ignoring Sage and Finn

"What happened...Witch?" the Wizard asked haltingly.

"I need you to restore my power, Wizard. A cunning witch stripped me off my power long time ago in a battle", the Witch pouted prettily.

"Don't worry," she continued with a smile, "My enemy had died a long time ago. The issue had been settled. So, would you help me once again, Wizard?"

"Please, Wizard, help her. We need her to help the Goddess," Sage whispered.

"Very well..." the Wizard nodded, after some thoughts. He turned his face towards Sage.

"I need...Mermaid's tears...silver...shining tomato...bring me."

Sage groaned, "Okay, okay...I'll see what I can do."

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5: And So It Begins

Chapter 5: And So It Begins

Gill brushed the sweat off his brows, and replaced his wooden training sword carefully in its protective bag. He then proceeded by methodically placing his helmet, breastplate and other protective gears into another large, canvas bag. He felt a tap on his back and turned around.

"Yo, bro. Owen and I are going to the Brass bar for a drink and some grubs. You coming?" asked Luke, his friend.

"Sure, but I have to go home first and shower. I'll meet you guys there,"Gill answered. He would usually decline the invitation to hang out with his friends at the bar after practice, preferring to go to bed early so he could wake up at dawn and start his work day at the office, but he was in a very good mood today and wanted to celebrate. Everything had gone very well since he had hired that new farmer, Sage, to work part-time at the office. She turned out to be quite sharp and a quick learner. Of course he could tell that she did not enjoy filling paperwork, her main task, at all. However, she went about and did her work anyway, sighing and shaking her head along the way. Gill couldn't help but smile, recalling Sage's horrified facial expression as he pointed her to the mountain of paperwork to file. He had to admit though, even with the long-suffering sighs, the shaking of the head, and the rolling of the eyes that she was making, she was an efficient worker and had made quite a progress. At this rate. all those papers should be neatly categorized and filed before the end of summer. Hm...maybe he would give her the task of organizing all the office supply cabinets next, he mused.

As Gill was leaving the Blacksmith's with two large canvas bags hanging from his shoulders, he spotted his teacher, Sword Master and the town's blacksmith Ramsey, sitting on the porch with a mug of tea cupped in his hands.

"Sensei, thank you for the lesson today. I am leaving now. Have a good evening," Gill bowed.

Ramsey turned his head and nodded at Gill. He had a sad expression on his wizened face, which astonished Gill. He rarely had seen any other expression, other than stern, on Ramsey's face. He dropped his bags carefully on the porch.

"Sensei, what's in your mind?" Gill asked respectfully.

"This used to be such a nice and lively place to live," Ramsey sighed,"What happened?"

Gill was silent. His good mood vaporized as he was reminded of the dire problem facing Harmonica town. He had loved this little, seaside town and its people with all his heart, and had felt powerless as he witnessed his beloved hometown turning into a ghost town. His heart was breaking inside his chest.

"I wish I could do something. Anything. To see this town flourish once more," the old man whispered, as if reading Gill's mind.

Gill nodded, agreeing with his teacher. He too would do anything. Even if he had to believe once more in the Harvest Goddess fairy tale. Part of him quickly dismissed the idea. There was no such thing, a voice in his head. You have been talking to Sage a lot lately and she has filled your head with these silly ideas, he admonished himself. But then another part of him was wondering. What if she was right? What if the Goddess really does exist and she has disappeared, and this town would crumble without her? Gill suddenly felt a little light-headed and very tired. He felt drained. He didn't care for a shower anymore. All he wanted was a stiff drink, or maybe ten, ten stiff drinks. He picked up his bags from the floor, bowed his head silently towards Ramsey and started his way towards the Brass bar.

Brass bar was noisy, with music playing and people talking, laughing loudly over the clinks of beer mugs. Gill scanned the room until he spotted Luke waving two beer mugs, one for each hand, at him and grinning like a maniac. Gill made his way towards Luke through the crowded bar.

"What will it be, Sugar?" the smoky, bourbon voice belonged to the Brass bar's waitress, Kathy.

"Two fingers of scotch and a Bloody Mary, please. Thanks, Kath", Gill answered as he lowered himself to his seat.

"Be right up. Anything to eat, y'all?" Kathy asked.

"No, nothing for me. Thanks," said Gill. Luke barked up an order of spinach pie with a side of fries. Kathy nodded and sauntered away.

"Where is Owen?" Gill asked Luke.

"He had to drop off Sage at the clinic. We found her passing out in front of the mine on the way here. Inhaling too much mine gasses, I bet," Luke chuckled.

"Really, is she okay?" Gill wrinkled his forehead.

"Oh yeah...yeah. Farmers, you know. They are made of pretty resilient stuff, bro. No worries! Jin will patch 'er up and she'll be as good as new," Luke gulped his beer.

"What she was doing in the mine?"

"Apparently she was mining for silver ores. She said she really, really needed some silver. Something about witch and Harvest Goddess needed silver? Hey, that's Owen! Hey bro! We are over here!" Luke waved his hands excitedly.

"Hey, everybody's here!" Owen's voice boomed, as he slapped both Luke's and Gill's backs, which nearly caused Luke to choke on his beer. Kathy came over with a big tray laden with food and drinks balanced on her shoulder. She placed the spinach pie, fries and another pint of beer in front of Luke, scotch and Bloody Mary for Gill, warm sake and toasted rice balls for Owen. She gave Owen a flirtatious wink and left the boys to their drinks. Gill gulped his scotch and wondered why on earth, the Goddess needed some silver. As the liquor warmed his throat and stomach, he decided that he needed to talk to Sage as soon as possible. He would give her the benefit of the doubt. He just wanted to save the Town and he no longer cared how. If saving the town meant helping a crazy girl finding the Harvest Goddess, then so be it. Gill was ready to do it. He slammed his empty scotch glass on the table with a triumph and reached for his Bloody Mary.

Meanwhile, in the Choral clinic, Jin waved smelling salts under the nose of the unconscious girl. Sage opened her eyes wide and groaned. She felt as if her head was about to split in two, and she was aching all over.

"What...where?" she murmured.

"You are in the Choral Clinic. Owen and Luke found you passing out in front of the mine...again, "Jin said. His long and delicate finger pushed his glasses up his nose. He sighed.

"What did I say about the mines, Sage? They are dangerous and full of poisonous gasses. Didn't I tell you to stay away from the mine?" He scolded her as if she was a child.

Sage closed her eyes. It wasn't her fault, she wanted to say. *She* had wanted to stay away from the mine since her first encounter with the poisonous gasses, but no, *Finn* kept nagging her, reminding her that she had to find a piece of silver for the Wizard. The throbbing in her head was getting worse. Her arms and back were screaming with pain. She couldn't feel all of her fingers. She hoped she still had all of them. If not, she hoped that Luke and Owen had found her fingers as well and kept them on ice. Would Jin be able to re-attach her fingers? She wondered. What a morbid thought. That kind of thought would usually freak her out, but right now she found it hilarious. Must be the effect of the gas, she giggled. After a moment, she re-opened her eyes and tried to get up, only to be pushed back gently onto the bed.

"Oh no, you are not going anywhere. You have inhaled too much gasses, so you are going to stay here overnight. Maybe you can go home tomorrow if I think you are well enough," Jin said, a little more tersely. He rose.

"Sleep. You need to rest," Jin continued as he walked out of the room.

Sage looked at Finn who was hovering above her with a worried look on his face.

"You are so in trouble, mister," she hissed at him and closed her eyes again. She recalled the chain of events that led her here. She was having a good day, managing to find tons of silver ores in Gamon mines when she encountered the mole. The beast had scared the wits out of her and she had bolted out of the mine as fast as her legs could carry her. She had refused to go back inside the mine. Only after a lot of pleading by Finn, did she finally return into the mine. She was praying so hard that she wouldn't run into the mole again, she had not seen the crack on the mine floor and had stepped through it. She must have fallen through several floors of the mine and hit her head pretty hard, because the next time she opened her her eyes, she found herself lying on her stomach. As she raised her head, she saw a large, furry beast with sharp teeth, peering at her. Then everything went so fast. She couldn't remember how exactly, but she managed to scream, got off the ground and hit the mole with her hammer all at the same time. The animal had bolted, dropping a pontata root in its wake. She had felt exhilarated from having escaped being eaten by the mole, for surely it would eat her given the chance. She was waving her hammer around in a happy dance when she accidentally hit a crystal with it. Poisonous gas exploded out of the broken crystal. She got a whiff of it before escaping to the mine entrance. There, the effect of the gas must have finally hit her and she must have fainted.

Sage started to giggle. She had escaped the mole, picked up a prized pontata root and a pack full of silver ores. Her pains and aches forgotten for a moment. Yup, it turned out to be a pretty good day. Must be the effect of the gas.

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6: Secret and Tales

Chapter 6: Secret and Tales

Sage quickened her steps with Finn trailing behind her. Finally, Dr. Jin had agreed to discharge her. She had lost a day and the sun had set when he had finally let her leave the clinic. She remembered that she had been in the mine the night before and ended up at the clinic due to inhaling the mine's poisonous gasses. However, her memory of the day was kind of hazy and she had slid in and out of consciousness. At some point, she thought she heard Gill talking to her, and she remembered being fed soup by someone, but other than that, she couldn't remember much. She thanked the good doctor for taking care of her and gave him the pontata root she had picked up in the mine.

She managed to get to the Accessory Store before it was closed to have all of her silver ores refined. Two of her ores turned out to be silver, and she felt as if she had hit the jackpot. Finally! She didn't have to go back into the mine anymore! Mira, the elegant Accessories Store owner, had commented to Julius, her apprentice, that she had never seen anyone got so excited over two pieces of silver. In turn, Julius had responded by saying that Silver would definitely compliment Sage's coloring and had asked if Sage wanted to turn the silver into accessories. Unfortunately, by then Sage had raced out of the store, and couldn't hear Julius trying to tell her how a pair of yellow garnet earrings set in silver would really bring out the color of her eyes.

Now she was heading towards the Town's graveyard. She wanted to visit her grandmother's and her parents' graves. She wasn't sure why. She just felt the strong desire to visit the graves tonight. She ought to visit her family's graves more often, she thought, so she could tidy them up and maybe, put some flowers on them. She didn't think her father would care much about flowers, being a man and all that, but her grandmother would surely appreciate them. Not that she knew her grandmother's likes and dislikes, for she had passed away long before Sage was born, but most women loved, or at least appreciated, flowers.

She mulled over the many conversations she had with the townsfolk about her father and grandmother. There were legendary tales of her grandmother, about how she had summoned the Harvest King by means of magical bells. And tales of her father too, how he, as a young boy, had managed to nurse the Goddess Tree back to life, and brought prosperity to Harmonica town, and so on. Sage had asked Finn about these bells because she thought the Harvest King should be able to help them, if the Bells really did exist that is. Finn had told her that although the Legend of Angela and Magical Bells happened before he was born, these bells really did exist as he had heard other sprites talked about them. Unfortunately, Finn told her, according to other sprites, the Bells could only be used once every one hundred years, and after they were used to summon the Harvest King, the Bells would disappear and would only re-appear after another hundred years had passed. Since the Bells were rung about fifty years ago, they would have to wait for another five decades or so before they could find and rang the Bells again.

"So no, we can't use the Magic Bells right now. And yes, you still need to track down a mermaid for her tears," Finn concluded. Sage rolled her eyes. The mermaid's tears were proved to be difficult to track. No one seemed to have heard of Mermaid's Tears or even where to find a mermaid. At first she thought Ozzie at the town Fisheries knew something. The other day, she had asked him if he knew where to find a mermaid, and he had responded by saying that mermaids were flesh eating sea monsters and she ought to stay away from them. Hearing that her heart had sunk and she had felt a little nauseous. She must have been making some weird faces because Ozzie had burst laughing. He was laughing so hard that he was bending over with his arms folded over his stomach. It turned out that he was just joking and then he told her that mermaids were just bogeymen told by sailors to keep their children from misbehaving. Well, how she was supposed to know that he was just joking? She had never seen a mermaid and Goddess knows there are many dangerous creatures in this world. Ozzie had complained that his stomach was hurting from laughing so hard. She had told him it served him right for scaring her like that. However, instead of apologizing, that seemed to spur him to laugh even harder.

However, her luck had turned around when a new girl had moved into town. Her name was Selena and she came from a place called Toucan Island. According to Selena, the mermaids live deep somewhere in the ocean and if you befriend a dolphin, it may tell you where the mermaids live. Sage had breathed a sigh of relief. She liked dolphin. They were friendly, cute and definitely not human eaters. However, when she asked Selena if she knew whether or not mermaids like to eat humans, Selena had simply shrugged and said maybe, who knows, she had never met one. It worried her a little but she figured if dolphin befriended mermaids, how bad could they be?

So Sage was mulling about bells and flesh-eating mermaids as she bounded down the rock stairway leading from Harmonica Town church ground into the graveyard. Down in the graveyard, she saw a familiar figure kneeling in front of her grandmother's grave. Under the moonlight, she could clearly see the Wizard's silvery head as he bent gently to place a bouquet of white flowers over Angela's grave.

"Wizard, what are you doing here?" she asked astonished.

"Oh...Sage...I...I..." the Wizard faltered. He looked as if he had been caught doing something wrong and he didn't know how to explain it.

"That's my grandma," Sage looked at the flowers," Did you know her?"

"But it can't be," Sage's mind was racing, "You have only moved here a few months ago, isn't that right? My grandma died a long time ago. Before I was born. Long before you moved here."

"I...uh...I...lived here before...yes...I knew your grandmother," the Wizard sighed.

"So, what was she like, my grandma? She must be a very interesting person. The townsfolk have all kind of crazy stories of the things she did," Sage knelt beside the Wizard.

"She...was kind...lovely," the Wizard responded. Yes, she was lovely, and she was his best friend, he thought. She had befriended him and their friendship had bloomed into love. Looking at Angela's grave, the Wizard had regretted not to come back to Harmonica Town earlier. If he had, maybe he could have seen her one last time. But, the Wizard thought, that was the choice he had made. He knew that he and Angela could never be together for they have such different lifespans. He would have to say goodbye to her sooner or later. Sooner was better, he had decided. Because she deserved better. She deserved to have a normal human life, a human husband who would grow older with her. Something he could never be able to give. The Wizard peered at the two other graves beside Angela's grave. This must be Sage's father and mother, he thought.. He didn't see any other graves in Sage's family plot.

"Where...is your Grandfather?" Wizard asked. He was glad that Angela had a family life. He hoped it was a wonderful one. That was the point of him leaving her fifty years ago, so she could forget him and fall in love with another human instead. He was curious to find out who did Angela end up marrying.

"My grandmother never married. She raised my dad all by herself. She told my dad that his father left a long time ago and she didn't know where he went," Sage said as-matter-of-fact.

Sage's words hit the Wizard like a hammer. He felt dizzy and lurched forward.

"Wizard! Are you okay?" Sage held his arm to steady him. But the Wizard brushed her aside. He stood and raised his staff, murmured a spell under his breath and was gone instantaneously.

"What was that all about?" Sage turned to Finn, who merely shrugged.

End of Chapter 6

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	7. Chapter 7: Speaking of Dolphin

Chapter 7: Speaking of Dolphin 

The incident with the Wizard in the graveyard was quickly forgotten, as in the days that followed, the Wizard refused to answer Sage's questioning. He simply told her to bring the items he had requested. Yes, he felt fine. And no, he didn't want to talk about what happened.

On top of that, Sage had been very busy. Summer was in full swing and she had planted a lot of tomatoes hoping to harvest a shining one. The farmer from the Marimba farm, Craig, had tersely explained to her that if she cared and fertilized her crops religiously, she might end up with a shining product. He had also muttered "amateur" under his breath, which Sage had pretended not to hear. But as soon as Craig turned his back, she had rolled her eyes and made some funny faces, which caused Finn to giggle uncontrollably. It was childish she knew, but sometimes she just couldn't help herself. On the other hand, Sage knew that farmer Craig, crabby as he was, knew his stuff, so she decided to follow his advice and spent some of her hard-earned money from her part-time job at the Town Hall office, on the best fertilizer she could afford.

She woke up at dawn as usual and got dressed in her work clothes. After splashing cold water on her face to chase away her sleepiness, she headed outside. She brushed and fed her new calf, Daisy, which was purchased from the Horn Ranch. She wasn't sure why cows needed brushing. However, the nice lady at the Horn Ranch, Hanna, had given her a cow brush and had told her that it was essential that she brushed Daisy every day. Since Daisy seemed to enjoy the brushing, Sage figured there must be something to this brushing the cows thing. That chore done, she went out of the barn to water and weed her crops before the comfortable summer morning turned into a scorching one.

After the chores, she showered, put on a fresh set of clothes, had her breakfast and started to prepare her lunch box. Today, she would be working at the Town Hall office. After a hesitation, she decided to prepare another lunch box for Gill. She had noticed how he usually skipped lunch, opting to work instead. Once in awhile Luke, Owen or Luna from the Tailor shop, would drop by and try to drag Gill's out for lunch. A lot of times however, he would decline. Sage also remembered that Gill had visited her at the Clinic when she had to be hospitalized from the poisonous gasses, and he had dropped by the farm on the day after, to check on her. She figured she owed him a lunch box, nothing fancy, just a simple tomato sandwich. A sandwich would let him eat lunch and work at the same time if he wished. Plus she knew he loved tomatoes. Tomatoes and paperwork. Those were the two things Gill loved more than anything. And tailored suits. Make that three things Gill loved more than anything.

The rest of the morning flew by quickly. Sage was relieved, for she had almost finished filling every single paper in the Town Hall office. The end of the mind-bogglingly boring task of filling, she felt, was near. The office cuckoo clock chimed twelve times signaling the start of her lunch hour. She took out one lunch box out of her pack and walked towards Gill's desk.

"Here. This is for you. I am going out for lunch. See you after lunch," She said, placing the lunch box on Gill's desk.

"Oh...thanks...," Gill said. When Sage stepped away from his desk, he called her name.

"Sage, wait! Where are you going? There is something I want to talk to you about," He said. Sage turned around and knitted her eyebrows.

"I was going to the Lighthouse to have my lunch. Why? What is in your mind?" she asked. Gill stood up and grabbed his suit jacket. No matter how hot the summer days had become, he still insisted of wearing a tailored suit to the office. He opted to skip the vest today because the day would be too hot for it.

"I need some air. Let's go. Let's have our lunch at the Lighthouse," he said as he put on his suit jacket and picked up the lunch box that Sage gave him.

"Er...sure..."

As they were about to leave, a girl burst into the Town Hall office. She was dressed in a pink, full-skirted dress decorated with abundance of lace, mother-of-pearls and ribbons. Her pink, curly hair was divided into huge pigtails, framing her delicate face and a small, upturn nose. A subtle flowery scent emanated from her. Luna. The queen of fashion. The goddess of cuteness. Sage looked down at her own clothes, and felt shabby. Being in the same room with Luna always made Sage feel shabby. And envious. She wished once again that she was as cute and fashionable as Luna.

"Hello Gill. Do you want to go out for lunch today?" Luna chirped breathlessly. According to what Sage had heard, Luna worked as an idol in the big city for a few years before returning home to Harmonica Town. Yup, she was that cute.

"Oh hello Luna. Not today, sorry. We are going to have a picnic lunch, Sage and I," Gill said.

"Oh...?" Luna wrinkled her nose cutely, "Where are you going? Can I come?"

"Not today. There is something Sage and I need to discuss...," Gill said.

"In private," he continued, as Luna was following him to the door. Gill opened the office door and held it open.

"Fine," Luna said, "Don't forget to come to the shop later and pick up your new suit". Then she walked out of the Town Hall office with her head held high. Sage followed after Luna carrying her lunch box and a small cooler.

Gill closed the office door behind Sage and together, they headed towards the Lighthouse.

"What's in the cooler?" Gill asked, making small talk. He expected that Sage would tell him it was filled with iced tea or soda.

"Fish," Sage responded.

"Fish?" Gill raised his eyebrows.

"Yup, fresh fish I caught yesterday. I need to befriend a dolphin. They like fish, you see."

Gill groaned. This girl is getting crazier, and crazier every day. She really drove him crazy, he thought. Okay, okay, calm down, he told himself. That must be an explanation for all these madness. Gill took a deep breath.

"Okay...and why do you need to befriend a dolphin?" he asked, dreading the answer Sage was going to give him.

"Er...well, I need to meet a mermaid..." Sage's voice faltering. She sighed and kept her eyes on the ground. She was afraid to look up as she was pretty sure Gill was giving her one of his exasperated looks right about now. She was quite sure that he thought she was completely mad. Stupid wizard with his stupid quest. Sage cursed inwardly.

"Does this mermaid have something to do with finding the Harvest Goddess?"

Sage stopped walking and whipped her head towards Gill in surprise. There was no snappy, impatience tone in his voice this time. That was new, she thought. Usually when the Harvest Goddess was mentioned, Gill would get all prissy. She was wondering if he was making fun of her so she looked up and looked directly into his eyes. There was no sign of malice in his eyes. He seemed serious and sincere. She relaxed a little and continued walking.

"Well, yes, sort of. You see the Wizard had asked me..." Sage recounted the story of the Goddess, the Witch of the Fugue forest, the Wizard, and the items the Wizard had asked her to find.

"I see...so you have the silver already, and if you are lucky, you may have a shining tomato in your next harvest. Now it is just the question of where to find the Mermaid's tears," Gill summarized, counting with his fingers. A soft breeze scented with the salty smell of the sea brushed through his hair. Gill and Sage have reached the Lighthouse. They were now standing by the white fence that separated the Lighthouse ground from the plunging cliff beyond.

"Right. And Selena told me a dolphin should be able to tell me where the mermaids live. That's why I need to befriend one," Sage put down her cooler on the ground. She shaded her eyes and gazed at the sea. I hope it is here today, she thought. Then she sighted a small, shiny head emerged from the sea. Here comes the dolphin, she said to Gill. She had spotted the dolphin a couple of days ago and had decided to feed it some fish. She bent down and opened her cooler, took the fish and flung it towards the dolphin. The dolphin leaped into the air, caught the fish and gracefully fell back into the waters. A couple of second later, it re-emerged, leaping backwards to form a quick loop in the air before it swam away. Sage watched the dolphin with a smile on her face. She definitely preferred dolphins than moles. Dolphins were much cuter. And they preferred fish for lunch.

Gill was deep in thought. He approached the park bench nearby and took off his suit jacket. Carefully, he draped the jacket over the bench and rolled his shirt sleeves up a few times. He sat and called out to Sage.

"Sage, how are you going to tell that Dolphin that you want to meet a mermaid?" he asked.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to speak dolphin," he continued, when she didn't answer him.

For once Sage was speechless. She hadn't thought this through. She had been preoccupied with finding mermaids and dolphin that she hadn't thought about how to communicate with the dolphin after she befriended it. Gill was right, how she was supposed to ask the Dolphin anything if she didn't speak Dolphin? Her mind was racing. She sat beside Gill on the bench and opened her lunch box.

"Have you asked the Wizard? Maybe he knows a spell that, you know, make you speak Dolphin," Gill licked a spot of mayonnaise off his thumb. Then he took a big bite out of his sandwich.

"The Wizard of course! That's it. That's how I am going to talk to the Dolphin," Sage brightened. Then after a moment she turned her face towards Gill.

"Now you sound as crazy as I do, you do know that, don't you? " Sage asked with a grin.

"What can I say. Craziness must be infectious," Gill responded while trying to keep a straight face. At the corner of his eyes, he thought he saw something sparkled. Must be the sea, he thought, sparkled under the summer sun. But even if it wasn't the sea, even if it was something else, Gill felt that he would be okay with that. He took another bite of his sandwich and glanced sideways at Sage who was still grinning at him. There were small dimples at the corner of her mouth. He had noticed the dimples long time ago of course, but he had never noticed how well they suited her. He had to admit although Sage was not the most beautiful woman he had ever met, with her tiger eyes and her dimples, she was pretty easy on the eyes. Yup, he would definitely be okay with that.

End of Chapter 7

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	8. Chapter 8: When in Rome

Chapter 8: When in Rome...

"...So that is why we need a spell that would let you speak dolphin, you see," Sage explained to the Wizard. She was sitting across the table from the Wizard, with Finn fleeting around her as usual. Behind her, Gill was leaning against the wall carefully, trying not to disturb the mountains of books beside him. This room seemed to have even more books crammed into its nooks and crannies, Sage thought.

The Wizard thought for a moment and rose. He moved towards one of the many shelves in the room and pulled out a big, leather-bound book. He set his crystal ball aside and placed the book on top of the round table. As the book was slammed on the table, a small dust cloud exploded in Sage's face, causing her and Finn to start coughing uncontrollably.

"It's here...somewhere..." the Wizard fingered a page in the book.

"Yes...dolphin potion," the Wizard read the page and nodded, "I will...make it...for you. Tomorrow".

"We can pick it up tomorrow?" Sage asked. The Wizard nodded.

"Great! Thank you Wizard! We'll be here tomorrow, say few minutes before noon?" Sage rose. The Wizard nodded and silently walked Sage and Gill to the door. He opened the door and stepped aside to let the young people through.

"Sage...I..." the Wizard hesitated.

"Yes?"

"...good day...see you tomorrow," he finally continued with a sigh. He couldn't do this, the Wizard thought.

"Okay, tomorrow then!" Sage waved and turned, walking with Gill towards the Town Hall.

The Wizard watched the young people walking away for a moment, and finally closed the door with a heavy heart. He had not told Sage that he and Angela were lovers before he left so many years ago, and that he believed that he was Sage's grandfather. He wasn't sure if his decision to leave Angela a long time ago was a right one. Well, he used to think that it was the right decision but now, he wasn't sure. Surely, he wouldn't leave her if he knew that she was with child, but he didn't know. A great wave of guilt surged in his heart. It was his child, he was sure of it, and he had left, without even saying goodbye. Now he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't have the courage to tell that young girl that he was her grandfather and that he was sorry that he left a long time ago. He could tell her that he believed he wouldn't leave if he knew that Angela was pregnant, but he didn't think that would matter. It was done, nothing could change that, and it was his fault. After that incident in the graveyard, his first instinct was to leave this town, never to return. But he was tired of running away. Angela wouldn't run away, he thought. She would face the challenge heads-on, the Wizard smiled sadly.

Meanwhile, Sage had said goodbye to Gill and was walking towards Flute Fields. She had some fishing to do. In these past few months, ever since that first lunch together at the Lighthouse, she and Gill had developed a lunchtime routine. Whether or not she was working at the office, they would always meet for lunch. They would walk together to the Lighthouse to feed the dolphin and, if the weather was permitting, they would eat their lunch there as well. Sometimes it would rain, so they would walk back to the Town Hall office and had their lunch indoor.

"Finally, we almost have everything!" Sage exclaimed. She had cast her fishing line into the river in the Flute Fields and now she was sitting by the river shore, waiting for fish to bite.

"Yeah! " Finn swirled in a happy dance. He sparkled more than usual when he got excited. Then he stopped and looked at Sage with a frown.

"Sage, how do you think the Witch is going to help us free the Goddess?" he said after some thoughts.

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out soon."

"You know...I have a bad feeling about the Witch. She is sooo creepy!" said Finn. His eyes were opened wide.

"Well, she seems to be the only who has a clue on how to help the Goddess. Wizard doesn't know. He said he wasn't here when that happened. So the Witch is our only hope. Why are you so afraid of her anyway?"

"I don't know. Something about her...I am not sure why. She was just so scary!"

"Well, I think we have nothing to worry about that. The Wizard is our friend. He would surely help us if we got in trouble with the Witch. I wouldn't worry so much about her," Sage said. Although, Sage thought, it seemed that the Wizard had been more distant towards them nowadays. She was wondering why when the fishing line in her hand shook slightly. Quickly, she jumped to her feet and struggled with the line to reel the fish in.

The next afternoon, Gill and Sage stood once more at the white fence that encircled the Lighthouse area, separating the ground from the cliff beyond. They each held a glass vial. The Wizard had explained to them that the vials would transform them into dolphins for a couple of hours. When Sage had protested by saying that what she wanted was to speak dolphin and not become one, the Wizard had merely glanced at her with a puzzled expression, as if to say, what is this odd person talking about? Then he had explained that only dolphins speak dolphin and thus, one needed to become a dolphin to be able to speak to another dolphin. At first, Sage had balked at taking the vial. Only after Gill offered to do it alone, only then, she snatched the vial off the Wizard's hand. She didn't want Gill to do it alone. She told him that it was too dangerous for him to go alone. He argued that he would be fine and actually, he would prefer she stayed behind. But she would not hear of it, she was coming and that was the end of that. The Wizard stressed over and over again that Gill and Sage only had a couple of hours and he would wait for them by the shore.

So now standing over the cliff with the white fence behind her and the vial in her hand, Sage's heart was pounding hard. She was scared of course, but she uncorked the vial and drank its content in one gulp. Then she felt her body started changing. Her arms shortening and her legs molding together. Jump, she heard Gill yelled. She shut her eyes tight and lurched forward, letting gravity to do the rest. She plunged head first into the sea below.

She had expected to hit the water hard as always the case when one dived into waters from height, but instead she glided smoothly into the water, like silk. She felt as if she was home. She was a good swimmer but she had never felt this good about being in the water before. She felt agile and free and she swam a few fast loops, diving and turning here and there, before she realized there was another dolphin watching her.

"Sage, are you okay?" Gill's voice rung in her head.

"Gill! I am fine. How about you?"

"I couldn't believe this! We are really dolphins! This is crazy!" Gill swam in frantic loops around her.

"Kano is here. Kano wants fish!"

Both Sage and Gill turned around and face another dolphin. The newcomer swam around playfully.

"Kano, is it? You know who we are, don't you? We are the ones who gave you fish everyday," Sage said.

"Yes, Kano knows. Kano wants fish. Kano likes fish!" Kano peered at Sage.

"And I would bring you more fish tomorrow. But I need your help. We need to see the mermaids, you see. Take us to the mermaids, Kano. Please".

"Follow Kano. Kano will take you to the Mermen King," Kano swam away.

The mermaids, or mermen, lived deep in the ocean, in a valley full of what seemed to be buildings of sort, made of colorful coral reef. Schools of fishes fleeted around the buildings and there were soft lights emanated from the buildings here and there. As far as Sage could see, no two buildings were alike. Big and small, some were rounded, some looked like boxes of different sizes stacked on top of each other.

Kano led Sage and Gill through a reef tunnel dotted with glowing seaweeds. The seaweeds were translucent with soft, white glow. The coral itself was alive with critters scampered in its nooks and crannies. At the end of the tunnel, they faced a door, a gigantic double door, with a little flap at the bottom covering a dolphin-sized hole. Kano pushed the flap with his nose and went through the hole swiftly.

"Did we just go through the doggy door?" Gill wondered, once they were all inside.

"Yeah, I think we did," Sage responded.

They had come through the door into a huge room. The floor and the walls of the room was made from smooth, polished slabs of black rocks and there was a long carpet of woven red and purple seaweeds leading to a large throne at the back of the room.

"Kano!" A child-size mermen hugged the dolphin, "I have been looking for you!"

"Kano is back! And Kano brings friends!" the dolphin chattered excitedly.

"Who are you humans and what brings you here?" A voice boomed from the throne.

On the throne, sat the Mermen King, and Sage had never seen anyone more magnificent than the Mermen King. She stared at him with her mouth hung opened. First of all, he was about twice the size of a grown adult male. He had a bronzed skin, chiseled face, and fiery long hair that bloomed and danced around him. His eyes were like emeralds. The lower part of his body were covered with glimmering scales, which reminded her of moonstones.

"Close you mouth," Gill hissed.

The Mermen King was of course a magical creature, and because of that he could see through the enchantment. He knew that the two dolphins that Kano had brought were not dolphins, but humans enchanted with some sort of magic.

"Greetings, Mermen King. I am Gill, and this is Sage. We came from the Harmonica Town, just north from here. We are here to ask for your help," Gill addressed the King.

"Oh..?"

"Our Goddess, the Harvest Goddess, had been kidnapped and imprisoned. We need the Mermaid's Tears to help her. Would the mighty King be so kind as to give us a few drops of tears?" Gill continued.

The King mulled the request in his head. A mermen whispered in his ear. After a few moments, he finally spoke.

"Very well. We will give you the mermaid's tears, our tears, in exchange for a black pearl".

"A black pearl?"

"Yes, our son is ill and the only cure for him is the powder of a black pearl. We were told that you should be able to find one in the Harmonica Town mines. We shall come on your shore at midnight two days from now. Bring us a black pearl and we will give you our tears."

"Thank you King. We will be waiting for you," Gill bowed at the King. He glanced sideways at Sage. She was still staring at the King, but at least her mouth was closed.

"Come on Sage. We don't have much time. We need to get back".

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9: Black Pearl

Warning: The whole story is rated T and this particular chapter has a little nudity (not much, just a little) and a little suggestive mature theme (again, not much just a little, and it only takes up a small section of the chapter).

Chapter 9: Black Pearl

Gill and Sage swam towards the shore as hard as they could. The swim back from The Mermen valley was much longer than they had anticipated. They had transformed back into the human forms a few miles from the shoreline.

Sage could feel her arms, legs and lungs burning. She could see the shoreline and she was swimming harder than she had ever swum before but she couldn't seem to close the distance fast enough. She was not going to make it, she thought with panic, as she felt her legs turned to jelly. She felt a hand gripping at her wrist and was pulled forward. Gill. That was enough to give her a second wind. She renewed her kicking, willing her body to swim a little longer.

Gill opened his eyes and started coughing. He pushed himself up and coughed the water out of his lungs, then he looked around. Sage was lying a couple of feet away from him on the sand. He scooted over towards her. She was lying face down but Gill could see her shoulder rose and fell as she breathed, thank Goddess. She didn't seem to be hurt as Gill carefully inspected her head, her shoulder, her back sloping down to her waist...then it hit Gill that she, like him, was naked. Of course, their clothes had been torn away when they changed into dolphins. His face burned as he averted his eyes. He heard someone calling his name.

He looked up to see the Wizard running towards them, carrying what looked like a bunch of cloaks in his arms. The Wizard threw a cloak at Gill and spread another on top of Sage.

"Oooh..." Sage was groaning as she pushed herself up on her elbow and coughed out water, her cloak slid off her shoulder, causing Gill to suddenly became very interested in a bunch of seaweed lying nearby on the sand. She squealed after she realized that she was naked, and pulled the cloak closer to her body. Great, she thought, while her face was burning. Now two of the Harmonica Town men had seen her naked. That would definitely do wonder to her reputation.

"Sage, are you okay?" Finn was flying around with a worried look on his face.

"I am fine..." Sage croaked. Her throat felt like sandpaper. She was now sitting upright on the sand, huddled in an oversize, heavy cloak, shivering.

"What is that?" Gill said as he pointed at Finn.

"Sage, do you think he can see me?" Finn whispered.

"I am not sure..." Sage whispered back.

"I can hear you too", Gill pointed out.

"Really?...Well, this is Finn. He is a harvest sprite. He has been following me around all along. You could never be able to see him before. Are you sure you can see him now?" Sage glanced at Gill with a quizzical look.

"The magic potion...must...have done something...to him," the Wizard noted.

"You do exist! Yes, I have seen you before," Gill stared with awe at Finn, who was fleeting around him, "I remember now. But you used to be so much bigger."

"You must have seen one of my older brothers. I am still growing," Finn grimaced. He didn't like to be reminded how small he was.

"Did you...get the Mermaids Tears?" the Wizard asked Sage.

Sage's heart sunk. She shook her head.

"No, we didn't. The Mermen King asked for a black pearl in exchange for the tears". She couldn't believe that she had to go back into the mines. Again.

"Then tomorrow we will go down to the Watery Cave mine and fetch one. No problem," Gill said.

Sage hugged her knees. "Yes, but the mine is a very dangerous place. There are poisonous gasses down there and the mine floor would sometimes crumble under your feet."

"And the mole lives down there. It's big and furry and scary, with sharp teeth! It almost killed me the last time I was in the mine..." She put her head between her knees and sighed. Why didn't she leave Harmonica town a long time ago? She was so tired and she was freezing. Part of her wanted to say that she was done with this, pack up her stuff and move on.

Gill laid his hand gently on her shoulder. "Sage, look at me. I will go with you. I will not let anything hurt you. I promise," he said, looking directly into her eyes.

Sage felt a huge relief. At least this time she wouldn't be going alone into the creepy, dark mine. Finn didn't count because he could fly and anyway, he was too small to do anything to help her. She was grateful that Gill would go with her. He didn't have to she knew, and she wouldn't blame him if he had stayed behind, really she wouldn't, but she was grateful that he would go with her.

The next morning, Sage, Gill and Finn entered the Watery Cave mine together. Gill had traded his suit with jeans, t-shirt and a leather jacket. He carried his sword, flung across his back. He didn't think he needed the sword as Owen had told him last night that the moles were really timid creatures and they wouldn't likely to attack humans, but he guessed that the presence of the sword would make Sage feel better. And he guessed right, it did make Sage feel better when she spotted the sword on Gill's back. Furthermore, she thought that the sword made Gill looked, well, heroic, for lack of a better word, and cool. Very cool and dangerous-looking.

Cautiously, they descended deeper into the mine. The mine was dark, and dank.

"Watch your step," Sage whispered.

"Okay", Gill whispered back, "But why are we whispering?"

"He is here somewhere," Sage muttered.

"Did you hear that?" Gill asked, tilting his head. A strange noise came from underneath the mine floor. However, Sage wasn't paying attention to the strange sound as she had spotted something sparkled lying on the floor a little further ahead. It was a black pearl. She raced towards it. Unfortunately, as she bent down and about to pick it up, a mole decided to pop out from the ground right beside the pearl. She screamed and by reflex, she brought down her hammer on the mole's head. She missed. The mole jumped to the right, trying to run away. She shrieked again and closed her eyes, swinging the hammer to her right blindly.

"No,wait!" she heard Gill yelled behind her. But it was too late. She had swung the hammer, missed the mole for the second time, and hit a crystal instead. Poisonous gasses exploded. Sage opened her eyes. How on earth she had always managed to hit a crystal filled with a poisonous gas? She wondered for a split second. Gill sprung into action. He jumped forward, picked up the pearl, grabbed Sage's hand and dragged her out of the mine.

They collapsed at the Mine entrance, breathing hard.

"Did you see that? Did you see how big it was?" Sage exclaimed breathlessly.

"You did good. I think you scared him to death," Gill felt a strong urge to giggle and he wasn't sure why. He felt giddy and so very carefree. He looked at the wall right in front of his nose and was wondering what kind of wall he was leaning against for he could not remember ever seeing it before. Then it dawned to him that he was not leaning against the wall, he was lying on his stomach on the ground instead.

"I did, didn't I?" Sage was giggling uncontrollably. She tried to push herself off the ground.

"We need...we need to see Jin. He would so angry. Oof..." she fell back down on her face. Her arms were rubbery. She decided that she didn't like her arms anymore because they felt rubbery. She was going to get new arms, she decided.

"I couldn't feel my legs," Gill moaned.

"Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged out..."

Sage and Gill both looked up and saw Owen crouched down in front of them. Luke was standing behind Owen, grinning and with his arms crossed.

"Owen?"

"Alright, come on buddy. Get up. You need to get to the clinic. Luke, grab the girl," Owen said as he pulled Gill's left arm around his neck. He hooked his right arm around Gill's waist to support him. Meanwhile, Luke grunted and lifted Sage off the ground.

"Is Gill okay?" Sage asked Luke. However, her face was numb and she was sliding out of consciousness so what came out of her mouth was more like "sisjilkay?"

"What's that baby doll?" Luke tilted his head towards Sage but soon realized that she had passed out.

"Yo Gill! I think your girlfriend is hitting on me, bro!" Luke was laughing hard.

"sontoucher!" Gill hissed before he too, finally lost consciousness...

"I couldn't believe this!" Jin glared at both Sage and Gill who were sitting in the clinic examination room. The day before, Owen and Luke had dropped off these two fools at his clinic, unconscious, due to the mine gasses. He had treated them and had kept them in the clinic overnight. Now they were sitting across him in the examination room looking like two guilty children.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to go down the mines, Sage? And you!" Jin pointed at Gill, "I expect better from you, Deputy Mayor!"

"Uh...sorry, Jin. It won't happen again," Gill said.

"I have heard that before. From her," Jin pointedly looked at Sage, while his finger pushed his glasses up.

"Sorry...I am so sorry," Sage said lamely. "But...er, can we go now?" she continued.

Jin sighed and shook his head. "Sure you can go..." he said finally, waving his hand.

Gill and Sage stood up at the same time. Gill bowed and elbowed Sage to do the same.

"Thank you for taking such a good care of us," Gill said.

Outside the clinic, the autumn sun was setting and the air was cool. Gill and Sage parted ways after they had promised each other to meet again at the Harmonica Town shore at midnight.

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10: The Moon Festival

Chapter 10: The Moon Festival

Gill arrived first on the seashore at midnight. Beside him lay a small rowboat he had borrowed from Ozzie, the owner of the Harmonica Town Fisheries. Sage arrived a few minutes later breathless, with Finn trailing behind her as usual.

"Look!" Sage pointed towards the sea.

The Mermen King rose from the water like a god. The moonlight shone on his wild hair making them looked like as if they were tongues of fire. Under the silvery rays of the moon, his eyes glittered, and his upper body seemed to be more muscular than Sage had remembered.

"Did you bring the pearl, mortals?" the King boomed, crossing his arms.

"Yes..." Sage starting to walk towards the King, towards the water, with a goofy smile on her face. Gill rolled his eyes and shook his head. He put one hand on Sage's shoulder to stop her.

"Get in the boat," he muttered.

So they both got into the boat and Gill started to row towards the King. They exchanged the pearl for a stoppered glass bottle. Then the Mermen King melted into the ocean silently.

"So we got everything right?" Gill said as he rowed the boat back to the shore. He wondered about the effect mermen had on women. As soon as the King disappeared, Sage had instantly snapped out of her goofiness.

"Yup. Thank Goddess".

"So I think we deserve to celebrate, don't we? Want to go to the Moon Viewing Festival tomorrow?" Gill asked, keeping his eyes on his rowing.

"Sure, that sounds great," Sage said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. She looked at everywhere else but Gill.

"Okay then, I'll pick you up at your farm at 6:30 tomorrow night".

In the morning, Sage woke up with jolt. I've got nothing to wear for tonight's date...er, festival, she thought with panic. She looked into her closet, if she had more time, she could probably put together an outfit from pieces of clothing that she really liked. But as of now, she didn't have time and she needed help big time. She wanted to look her best for the...er, festival, you see. She thought of the Sonata Tailoring tailor shop and groaned. Sonata Tailoring was the only shop in Harmonica Town that she had managed to avoid, but now it seemed that she would have no choice but to go there. But then she realized that the tailor shop would be closed that day as today was the Festival day. She was wondering what to do next when an idea came into her mind. Julius! Julius could help her. That man knew more about fashion than any man ought to decently know.

So after her chores, she raced towards the Flute Fields where Julius' house was located. On her way to the Flute Fields, near the bridge that connected her farm with the Fields, she heard someone calling her name.

In the river, under the bridge, there was a mermen calling out to her. He had an uncanny resemblance to the Mermen King, except that he had paler skin, was a human size and younger. He called out to Sage one more time, gesturing her to come closer.

"Sage, isn't that right?" the man asked, his smile dazzling.

Sage swallowed and nodded wordlessly.

"I am Arashi. My father told me that you and your boyfriend had saved my life by bringing him a black pearl".

"He is...uh, not my boyfriend", Sage whispered, kneeling in front of the mermen. She couldn't think straight.

"I see...terrific. I must say, I bet you are much cuter as a human than a dolphin," Arashi said, sizing Sage up and down. He beckoned her closer with his finger. Sage leaned forward.

"Thank you for saving my life, Sage. I would never forget it. Maybe we will meet again one day," he whispered seductively, his finger grazed her cheek for a second. Then he was gone in the next heartbeat.

"Huh? What?" Sage blinked. Where did the mermen go, she thought, but then she remembered that she was on her way to Julius' house. She rose and dusted her clothes.

"You were making weird faces a second ago. Your eyes were all funny," Finn pointed out. He bugged out his eyes trying to demonstrate.

"Did I? Really? Huh, I wonder why", Sage said absently as she quickened her steps towards Julius' house.

"Well, you have come to the right place, darling," Julius clasped his fingers together with delight. He loved, loved makeover. What could be more exciting than new clothes, new shoes and new, exciting hair styles? Especially with farmers like Sage, there was so much he could do.

"We definitely need to get some new clothes, and shoes, and we will see what we can do about your hair," He looked at her hair with a frown. Sage covered the hair on top of her head with both hands and gave Julius a puzzled look, as if to say, what is wrong with my hair?

"Let's go to the Sonata Tailoring".

"But it's closed today".

Julius winked, "Don't worry darling. I have an inside connection. I can get us in".

Candice, Luna's sister, let Julius and Sage into the store. Thank you darling, Julius had winked at Candice, causing the poor girl to turn crimson red. At the corner of her eyes, Sage could see Julius lowered his head towards Candice and said something, which made her blushed even more, and then she bolted into the room at the back of store like a scared bunny rabbit. Sage turned her attention to the blue dress hung on a mannequin in front of her and wondered what it would look like on her. That's when Luna stepped out of the room at the back of the store.

"Oh...", she said to Sage. Then She shot a look at Julius and said, "Leave my sister alone, Julius. I mean it". She went and sat behind the cash register, pretending to do some embroidery. She furtively stole glances at Sage and the blue dress that Sage was admiring. I wonder what Gill sees in her, a country bumpkin, Luna wondered, and blue was not her color, yellow was, she thought. But Luna wasn't about to say anything. If Sage wanted to buy the dress then it was really up to her.

"Blue is not your color," Julius said, steering Sage towards a yellow dress. The dress had long sleeves, a high neck, and a full skirt. Other than the white ribbons accenting the neck and the sleeves, the dress was plain. "This is more suitable for you," he caressed the fabric of the yellow dress. "And with a pair of white stockings and Mary Jane shoes, you would look divine," he purred.

Sage breathed a sigh of relief. She had looked at the blue dress with all its laces, ribbons and pearls trimmings and had secretly thought that it was too fussy. Of course, the same dress in pink looked mighty fine on Luna but on Sage? Well, let's just say that she wasn't sure she could pull off the look. But this yellow dress, this was something she could definitely wear without having to hide under a paper bag, she thought. So she bought the dress, the stockings and the shoes as per Julius suggestion, but she resisted Julius' offer to give her hair a rainbow highlights to match his own rainbow colored hair. Julius then tried to apply makeup on Sage's face and she had hissed at him and bolted from the store as fast as she could. Julius had sighed and mused to himself, how much like a cute stray cat Sage was, and whether she would be back if he left some warm milk by the door. Then, after she was tamed, and maybe washed, whether she would let him put some makeup and pretty bows on her. Luna, who had pretended not to follow the unfolding event in the store until now, told Julius to stop being weird, and stop comparing Sage with cats, making her cuter than she really was.

A couple of minutes before 6:30 PM, Gill knocked at Sage's door. "Ready?" Gill said, staring at her and her yellow dress as she opened the door. Her hair was loose, out of its customary ponytail. He himself was dressed in his best three-piece suit, a shirt and tie. A rolled-up blanket tucked under his arm.

"Yeah..." Sage walked out of the house, carrying a picnic basket and closed the door. She was nervous and she wasn't sure why. Gill thought he caught a scent of soap and shampoo as she brushed by him.

"Er...Finn, do you mind to sit this one out?" Gill addressed the sprite, "I promise I will bring her home safely. And not too late either..."

The sprite pouted but then he said, okay, you kids have fun, forget about him, and flew away sulking.

When they arrived at Flute fields where the Festival was, there were already a small crowd there, dotting the fields with blankets and picnic baskets. Gill and Sage picked a spot and set down their blanket and picnic basket.

"Hey, that's Owen and Luke! Should we say hi?" Gill pointed at a group of young people spread over few huge blankets. They were Owen, Kathy, Luke and Selena, sitting together, chatting lively.

"Sure, let's go".

"Yo, bro! Feeling better? " Luke, as always, waved at them energetically.

"Yeah much. Thanks for taking us to Jin", Gill said.

"No problem. Owen mentioned that you were going down the Watery Cave mine so we decided to pass by it just in case..."

"You know Sage," Owen said, "If you and Gill are going down to the mine often, maybe you should invest in a gas mask?"

It was as if a light was switched on inside Sage's head. A gas mask! That's it! Why didn't she think of that before?

"Hey, try these cookies, y'all. They are delicious..." Everybody was talking at the same time.

Gill pulled Selena aside. "Selena, Sage said that you told her all about the dolphin and the mermen," Gill said with a low voice, "Is there anything else you can tell me about the mermen? Do they have, you know, weird effect on women?"

"Well, in Toucan Island, we women would stay away from the Mermen, because no human female can resist them," Selena said. Her accent was foreign and exotic. "The Mermen produced this pheromone that attracts human females. And from where I come from, there are stories about mermen taking women. These women that they took, some would return after a few days, while the rest would never be seen again. Those who returned would have no memory of what they have been through. The theory is that the Mermen use human female to make babies".

"Really? And you didn't tell Sage this?"

"She didn't ask me. She only asked where she could find a mermaid. I think she asked me what do mermaids eat or something like that. Besides, she is not really going to find them, is she?", Selena shrugged. Gill shook his head and made a mental note not to let Sage alone with a mermen.

After they chatted with the group a bit longer, Gill and Sage walked back to their spot and sat on the blanket. The evening was in full swing. Gill laid on the blanket, clasping his hands under his head, and admired the moon. Surely nights like this, he thought, with the air fresh and crisp, and the moon huge and bright, that inspired men to do great things. He glanced sideways at Sage who was sitting beside him. Well, okay, a pretty girl couldn't hurt either.

Although the autumn evening was a little chilly, Sage felt warm, giddy and alive. Right now she felt as if she could do anything, no quest was too big, no task too difficult. She wanted to reach out to the moon with her hand. It had seemed so close and within her grasp. She wanted to get up and run laps around the field, but of course, she didn't do that because that was not what people usually do on a da...er, festival, you see. Instead she reached for the picnic basket and started to take out snacks and a thermos filled with hot chocolate.

"No fish this time?" Gill raised his head.

"No, no fish", Sage said, and they both burst out laughing.

End of Chapter 10 


	11. Chapter 11: The Witch is Free

Warning: This chapter contains violence.

Note: Revised to correct grammar. Apparently the past tense of kneel is knelt, and not kneel-ed.

Chapter 11: The Witch Is Free

Sage was sitting on her kitchen table, sipping her coffee while she thought about last night. She had thought that Gill was about to kiss her after he had walked her home from the Moon Festival. He had lowered his face towards her and she had raised her face to meet him, looking directly at him, in time to see him made a face. Then he had shaken her hand instead and bid her goodnight.

"Am I really that ugly? You don't think I am ugly, do you Finn?" She asked the sprite. Finn looked up from his meal with a quizzical look. There was a spot of strawberry jam on his face.

"Well, you have no wings and no sparkle. In Sprite world, the most beautiful sprites have the biggest wings and the most sparkle", he tried to explain, thinking that would make Sage feel better. You are no sprite, so you can't help it, that was what he meant.

"You are no help at all," Sage sighed. "And you got jam on your face", she added, rising and carrying the breakfast dishes. She rinsed the dishes in the kitchen sink. Today was the day, they were all going to visit the Witch and undue her curse. So she better get going, she thought.

Gill walked towards the Wizard's house, brooding, thinking about last night. All night long, he had worked out a courage to kiss Sage. But when they got to the farm, Finn was waiting for them, fleeting around with a worried look on his face. Gill was about to kiss Sage when he thought, he couldn't do this in front of Finn. The thought of Finn watching the whole thing made him lose his courage. Without thinking, he shook her hand instead. Shook her hand? Really, that was the best you could come up with? Gill groaned, that was really a stupid thing to do.

After everyone met at the Wizard's place, the Wizard transported the group directly in front of the Witch's house in the Fugue Forest. Once again the Wizard knocked the Witch's door with his staff, and now they were all standing in the clearing in front of the house. The Wizard gave the Witch a vial filled with a glowing potion.

"Drink..." the Wizard ordered.

The Witch uncorked the vial and drunk the potion. She closed her eyes and her body started to glow. After a while, the glow from her body subsided, the Witch sighed and opened her eyes. A small smile formed at the corner of her mouth and she raised her hand, fingers spread wide towards the Wizard.

A blast hit the Wizard hard and threw him a few feet backward. He slammed into a tree and fell into ground motionless.

"What the...?" Sage whipped her head back. She turned towards the Witch just in time to see the Witch raised a hand towards her and Gill. It was only a split second but Sage managed to curse under her breath and mustered her magic shield. A blast of cold air hit the shield, and she could feel it shattered but she and Gill were untouched. Gill sprang forward, crouched down, and swiped the Witch off her feet. He somersaulted and landed on the Witch, his one hand held down her neck while the other formed a fist above her head. Then Gill hesitated. He had been taught never to hit a woman.

The Witch looked at Gill towering above her and whimpered. "Are you going to hit me?" she said with a small voice. Something in her voice caused Gill to lower his fist.

"No? Then get off me!" She added, blasting Gill's chest at a close range, sending him flying backward.

"No!" Sage screamed. She raced and stood in front of Gill's motionless body and faced the Witch. She conjured her shield once more with all her will but the second blast that hit her was much stronger than the first. It shattered her shield and hit her hard, slamming her into the ground.

The Witch rose and dusted herself off. She looked at unconscious Gill and thought, humans and their chivalry. She had never understood it but she knew enough to use it to her advantage. Then she towered over unconscious Sage. Finn fleeting about the Witch trying to distract her, but she merely swatted him like one swatted an insect, into the ground.

"Now girlie, "she purred,"you and I have some unfinished business to attend". She muttered a spell under her breath. Something that looked like black satin ribbons formed around Sage, wrapping itself around her body and Sage was lifted off the ground.

"Off we go then," the Witch said cheerfully, beckoning at the black satin package to follow her.

When Sage opened her eyes, she found with panic that she was bound tightly and lying on what seemed to be a stone altar.

"Ah...you are finally awake. Good. This won't be as much fun if you are not," the Witch said as she finished lighting candles on the altar.

"Why..?" Sage felt rage and fear building in her stomach.

"Well, you can blame Harvest Goddess for that. Choosing over mankind, loving them more than her own kind. That's pretty rude, don't you think?" the Witch peered at Sage. "Well then I found out how to get rid off her. If I kill all the tree guardians, I would destroy her for good. And as added bonus, this blood ritual that I am about to do will transfer all of your magical energy to me, making me even a stronger witch. Nifty huh?"

"Somehow, your father managed to put two and two together, so he sent you away and sacrificed himself to create a spell that would rob me of my magic and imprisoned me here." The Witch wrinkled her nose, "I guess I underestimated him".

"So my father is gone and the Goddess is dead! What else do you want? Why do you have to hurt my friends?" Sage screamed at the Witch.

The Witch laughed. "On no girlie. The Goddess is still alive, well, barely. Because you are the last of the guardians. If I kill you, I kill the Goddess".

"Well, enough chit-chat", the Witch raised a blade above her head, "Said hi to your father for me".

"Stop!" Finn flew right into the Witch's face. The little sprite was bloody all over but he looked angry, his little wings flapped furiously, "I found you evil witch! It was you all along!"

The Witch tried to swat the sprite but Finn flew around her faster this time. He kept slamming into the Witch's face whenever he could. However, his speed didn't last, he was losing too much blood, the Witch finally caught him in her fist. Finn struggled trying to break free, but then there was a bright light exploded from inside the Witch's hand. The Witch slowly opened her hand and Finn's lifeless body fell onto the ground.

"No! What did you do? Finn! Get up! Get up! I'll get you for this Witch!" Sage struggled against her bondage. She was now more enraged than afraid.

The Witch patted her hair, "Now, where were we? Oh yes, you were about to die for me". She brought up the the blade above her head once more. Sage shut her eyes.

As the Witch brought the blade down, a blast hit her, sending her backward. She tasted blood in her mouth. She looked up and see the Wizard running towards her, with Gill trailing behind. The Witch staggered onto her feet, only to be hit by another blast. She put her hands up.

"Wizard! I am sorry that I hit you earlier, but I didn't kill you. I just want you out of the way. You and I have no quarrel, so just walk away. This is not your fight!" the Witch said.

"But it is", the Wizard answered.

"What? Why? Why do you care so much for this human girl?" there was exasperation in the Witch's voice.

"She is...my granddaughter. You want her...over my dead body", said the Wizard. His whole eyes, pupils and all, had turned silvery. He had opened his Spirit Eye. With it, he had tracked Sage and the Witch. The Spirit Eye, was not only useful in tracking people and items, but it also showed him the flow of magical energy, which was usually invisible to the naked eye. This gave him an advantage in battle as it helped him to anticipate the movement of his enemy. At the moment, the Eye showed him that magical energy was building up in the Witch's palm. He waited for a second and simply stepped aside calmly to avoid the blast.

The Witch cursed. "I will be back Wizard!" she said. She touched a medallion hanging around her neck, opening a magic portal near her and she jumped through it. The Wizard raced forward but he was too late for the portal had disappeared. As the Witch disappeared into the portal, the black ribbons that bound Sage melted away.

"Sage, you okay?" Gill hissed with pain. He probably broke a rib or two he thought, and his sides were burning with every movement. The Wizard had tried to patch him up as much as possible by binding his upper body with magical silvery ribbons. But it still hurt like hell.

"Gill, thank Goddess you are okay, but Finn..." Sage choked up. She got up and found Finn's lifeless body on the ground near the altar. There was no sparkle coming out of his tiny body. "No..no.." she knelt on the ground, cradling Finn in her arm.

The Wizard transported all of them back to Sage's farm house. Sage felt a little numb. She had choked back her tears. She didn't want to cry in front of Gill and the Wizard. Whatever she was, she was not a crybaby, she thought.

"Is that true Wizard? That you are my grandfather?" she asked.

The Wizard nodded, "Yes...I am".

Sage raised her face. There was rage in her eyes. She was hurting, and she was angry. Angry at herself for all the times she had told Finn that he was too small to help her with anything. She wanted to take her rage on something, someone, and the Wizard was a convenient target.

"No, you are not. Now get out of my house", Sage said coldly. When the Wizard didn't move, she barked again, "Get out! Or I'll hurt you!"

The Wizard walked out of the house feeling defeated. His shoulders slumped. Well, what would you expect? He asked himself. Did you really expect her to leap with joy and call you grandpa? The Wizard shook his head. But whether or not Sage accepted him, the Wizard had decided that he would protect her from the Witch. The Witch would be back and when she did, the Wizard would be ready for her. With this thought, he transported himself back into his own house.

Meanwhile, back in the farm house, with her back turned towards Gill, Sage told him to leave the house as well.

"But..."Gill started to argue but stopped. There was something in her voice that told him that this might not be the best time to argue. So he started to walk towards the door, wincing with every movement. At the door, he stopped and looked back at Sage, telling her that he would be back to check on her later.

Now all alone, Sage stared at Finn's lifeless body which was laid on her kitchen table. Just this morning, they were having breakfast together, she thought. Her eyes watered, then the dam broke and she started to sob uncontrollably.

End of Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12: Her Blood, My Blood

Chapter 12: Her Blood, My Blood

The old rancher stopped his horse wagon on the side of a country road. "Where are you going, miss?" he asked the slender girl.

"Anywhere but here. Could you give a ride?" Sage answered him.

"Sure, just hop in the back".

Sage was trying to find a footing on top of one of the wagon wheels in order to lift herself up into the wagon when a hand was thrust in front of her face. She looked up.

"Hello stranger," Arashi said with a smile, offering Sage his hand. Sage grabbed his hand, and was pulled up and into the wagon. She looked at Arashi with a frown.

"You are no longer a mermen. You are human," she said, pointing to Arashi's very human lower body. There was no more fish part, and Arashi's long red hair was no longer flowing around his head as if it had a life on its own. Instead, the hair was tied back messily in a low ponytail.

"Impressed?" Arashi leaned back on the dried hay that filled the wagon.

"Well..."

"I got our Royal Wizard to turn me into a human. His spell didn't work too well the first time around and worse, it almost killed me. Good thing you showed up with the black pearl," Arashi winked at Sage. "But the second time around, ta da!" he gestured at his legs with a triumph.

"So you almost got killed doing something, and right after you got better, you went and did the very same thing that almost got you killed in the first place?" Sage looked at the horizon in the distance, thinking of the times Finn had nagged her to go back into the mines.

Arashi stretched and chuckled. "Well I like to live on the edge, I guess". He glanced at Sage and sat up quickly. "My dearest Sage," he said and pulled her gently towards him, "why are you crying?"

Sage gasped and quickly brushed her eyes with the back of her hand. The back of her hand was indeed wet. She didn't even noticed that she had started to cry. Maybe it was the pink autumn dawn, or maybe it was Arashi being so gentle, but whatever it was, she started to pour her heart out to him, telling him her story, sobbing in his arm. Arashi listened without saying anything, just holding her and stroking her hair. Only when she had finished her story and had finally stopped crying, only then he released her.

"So now you are running away?" he asked.

Well, after she had finished burying Finn's body, she had decided that she had enough. She didn't want to die at the hand of the Witch, and Finn was dead because of her. She knew what happened to her father now and if she stayed in Harmonica Town, she was afraid that the Witch was going to find her. So yeah, she had packed up her stuff and left. It was something that she had always done. When things got crazy, she would leave.

Gill, she thought out loud, and her face fell. What would Gill think of her? He must have thought she was such a coward and a quitter, and he would be right, she was, she told Arashi. But she was so afraid, her instinct told her to bolt.

"I was afraid of trying the human spell for the second time but I did it anyway. You were afraid of the mines but you went into them again. We are the same, Sage. So I tell you this, we are not cowards", Arashi said. "And you are not a quitter either, because Angela was your grandmother and from what you have told me, I am sure she wasn't a quitter".

Sage argued that she had never actually known her grandmother.

"Doesn't matter", Arashi said, touching Sage's chin, "her blood is in your father's blood and in your blood. You are no coward and you will not quit because that is just how you are wired". Then he leaned back on the fodder again and stretched.

"I will probably regret saying this, but here it goes: you are going to go back because you are not a coward, or a quitter, and you have an unfinished business with the Witch. And more importantly, you are going to go back because if not, you won't know what can happen between you and the boy that you really, really like. And you know you really like him because you have never felt this way about a boy, correct?"

She nodded numbly. She thought about what Arashi said for a moment. Her heavy heart had somehow lightened and she felt that perhaps, it was going to be okay, that her heart would mend in time. Yes, I am going back because for once, I am going to draw the line and I am going to say this is the line, I am going to stand by this very line and I am not going to budge. Finn's sacrifice would not be in vain, and somehow, she didn't know how yet, but she would find a way and nail that evil witch. Gill would not have a reason to call her a coward or a quitter. And the Wizard, she realized now, that he probably, most likely, didn't make up that stuff about being her grandfather. He had nothing to gain from making that stuff up, and everything to lose.

"Thanks, Arashi. I owe you one," she said, after a period of silence.

"Yeah, yeah..." Arashi waved his hand, then he sat up and clasped Sage's hand with both of his hands. "Or...you can run away with me, babe. I will make it worthwhile", he growled. Sage started to laugh.

"...er, no. Thanks, tempting, but no. I am no quitter remember? You said so yourself".

"I am such a saint sometimes..." he sighed, releasing Sage's hand. "Well, go get 'em, tiger!"

Gill stared at the clinic ceiling and tried not to move too much. Jin had examined him and told him that he was lucky for he only had a cracked rib, not a broken one, and after a month or so of rest, he would be as good as new. But Gill didn't care anymore, the Wizard had came by earlier in distraught, and told him that Sage had skipped town. He sighed and closed his eyes. He really didn't blame her though, the Witch was trying to kill her and the safest place for her to be right now was probably not in Harmonica Town. He tried not to think about whether or not he would see Sage again. Jin had given him some medication for his pain, which would also help him sleep, Jin had said. And right now, he wished the drug would kick in faster so he could sleep and forget about Sage. He heard someone entering the room but he kept his eyes closed.

"Gill...are you awake?"

Gill's eyes jolted open. "Sage?" he said.

"Ah, yes you are. How are you feeling? You look quite awful, you know," Sage said, pulling a chair so she could sit beside Gill's bed.

"You came back?" Gill was hoping that he wasn't hallucinating.

"I am sorry that I left. I thought it was what I wanted, but it wasn't it. So yes, I am back."

"I am sorry about Finn..." The drowsiness hit Gill like a hammer and he started to go under. No, not now, he thought. There were so many things he wanted to say. "Stay..."

"I am here. I am not going anywhere..." Sage whispered and gently held Gill's hand until she was sure that he was fast asleep. Then she rose and kissed his forehead lightly before she left.

The Wizard opened his door and was dumfounded when he found Sage standing at the door. Not knowing what else he was supposed to do, he stepped aside and let her in.

"Well, I am still not quite sure what really happened between you and grandma, but I will give you a benefit of a doubt. Because I don't think you are the kind of person who will make up something like this..." Sage looked at the Wizard and hesitated.

"...Grandpa," she finally added. Then, for the first time ever since she had met the Wizard, she actually saw him smiled. She looked at his smiling face and thought, I don't think I can get used to calling this young face, grandpa. Then her next thought was, why on earth she couldn't have a normal, old-looking grandfather just like everybody else, for who would believe her when she told them that he was her grandfather?

"Thank you...now that we are family...you should know that my name is Gale", the Wizard said. Then his smile disappeared as fast as it had appeared. "We need to talk about your magic training," he said with a frown.

The Witch would be back, he was sure, and they would have to prepare themselves. He asked her how many spells did she know, and when she lamely admitted that she only knew one, he had sighed. Well, what could she do, she said defensively. It wasn't as if you could go to a magic school to learn about these things. She was lucky that a long time ago, she had found an old wizard who was willing to teach her the shield spell in exchange for cooking his meals. Very well, he would teach her, Gale said. But he would expect her to work very hard at her training, and he wouldn't go easy on her, just because she was his granddaughter. Hearing this, Sage had groaned. Then an idea came into Gale's mind. He told her that maybe she ought to move in with him so he could protect her. She looked around his cramped living space and suggested that it would probably better if he moved into the farm, for the farmhouse was bigger, and had more bedrooms. He thought about this for a moment and said, very well, he would need to pack few things and he would be over by the farm as soon as possible.

"And Sage..." Gale called out, as she was leaving to ready a room for him in the farm house.

"Yes?"

"No boys staying overnight", said Gale as sternly as he could, thinking of Gill and the day he had found Gill kneeling over naked and unconscious Sage on the beach. Angela and Sage's parents were gone and Gale felt it was now his sole responsibility to keep an eye on Sage. He was determined that he wouldn't let Angela down. It was fortunate that Gale was deep in thought about his new responsibility as grandfather, or he would hear Sage muttering about how if she had known Gale to be such a stern grandfather, she wouldn't be too quick to call him grandpa.

End of Chapter 12


	13. Chapter 13: Life Goes On

Chapter 13: Life Goes On

The news of Gale and Sage living together reached Luna's ear and she squealed with joy. She had assumed that Sage and Gale were lovers. So Sage preferred the fortune-teller, she thought, Gill must be heart-broken. She raced to the clinic to visit Gill thinking that she wanted to comfort him, only to find Sage and Luke were there also visiting Gill. What was she doing here, Luna thought and then she asked Luke and Sage if they didn't mind, she would like to speak with Gill in private. Sage had hesitated but Luke had promptly steered her out of the clinic, saying that he was hungry for some snacks and Sage, the very lucky girl that she was, would be able to buy him a spinach cake from the Ocarina Inn.

At first Sage had retorted that Luke could buy his own snack but as they were walking towards the Inn, they had come across Selena. Luke had then cheerfully invited Selena to come along with them to the Inn because he would like to buy her tea but the dancer had turned him down. Looking at how Luke's face fell when Selena had turned down his invitation, Sage had felt sorry for him. So she told him that she had changed her mind and would buy him two pieces of the spinach cake, as long as he was willing to share one of them with her. That seemed to cheer him up somewhat.

"So baby doll, tell me. You like Gill don't you?" Luke said, cutting his cake with a fork.

Sage didn't say anything. But one look at her red face, told Luke everything he needed to know. He chuckled.

"Well, then let me give you an advice", he said. "Be patient with Gill. He doesn't have much experience with the opposite sex, unlike me, the Grandmaster of Luv!" Luke flashed a V sign with his fingers and grinned.

Sage had laughed so hard that she almost spilled her tea. "Oh man, sorry, sorry...oh, my stomach hurts!"

"Served you right, for laughing at Grandmaster Luke, the Grandmaster of Luv!" Luke scowled.

So over tea and cakes at the Inn, these two continued to banter and tease each other, and they became better friends. When they had finished their tea, Luke told Sage that he thought she was alright, even if she had been born a girl. Sage had countered by saying that she was alright, exactly because she had been born a girl.

Meanwhile in the clinic, during her moment of weakness, Luna had decided to confess her feelings for Gill.

"What? But, you are like a sister to me!", the confession had caught Gill by surprise.

"No...But, but..." Gill's statement had caused Luna, who usually was very articulate, to stutter a little. She just couldn't believe what she had heard. Then she started to cry and she ran out of the clinic, sobbing all the way to the Tailor shop. There she bumped into Julius and Candice. Candice silently hugged her sister to comfort her while Julius patted Luna's back. There, there darling, you are still the most beautiful woman in Harmonica Town, you'll meet someone else, Julius had said.

Back at the clinic, Sage had asked Gill what was it that Luna wanted to talk to him about. However, Gill, who at this time was feeling guilty for not being more sensitive to Luna's feeling and for not letting her down nicer, had decided that he wasn't going to embarrass her further by telling everyone of her rejection. So Gill simply told Sage that it was a private matter between him and Luna, and that was that.

"I see," Sage said, trying to sound as casual as possible, "Well, then I have to go to back to the farm. Later!"

"Wait Sage! Are you going to visit me tomorrow?" Gill asked.

"Maybe, I don't know. I think I may have to do some training tomorrow with grandpa", Sage answered, and with that she walked out of the room.

After Sage left, Luke, shaking his head, told Gill that for someone who was so smart, he could be so dense about women. Gill had looked at Luke with a puzzled expression.

"Hopefully one day you'll figure it out, bro, before it's too late. Anyway, I have to get back to the Shop. Get some rest," Luke said.

After everyone left, Gill was all alone, lying on his bed, thinking about how women drove him crazy, and how he was really better off without them.

"So how is the magic training?" Gill asked as he spooned his tomato soup. It had been a few days since he was released from the clinic and now he was sitting down to dinner with Sage and Gale at the farmhouse. Sage sighed. So far her training had been disastrous. Gale had tried to teach her a fire spell so she could form a little ball of fire in her hand and hurl it towards a target. Unfortunately, her aim was so bad, that she ended destroying everything else, except, the target she was supposed to hit. As well, sometimes she managed to create a humongous ball of fire which, yup, you guess it, destroyed everything else, except, the target.

She had burned some of her crops, part of the barn, part of house. At some point, Daisy the cow had been so scared of the haywire fire, she had broken free from the barn, ran around wild in the field, trampling over the rest of the crop. Sage had ran after the cow trying to calm her down before she realized that she had trampled whatever crops that Daisy missed.

On top of that, her own grandpa, had since decided to start torturing her by dousing her with cold water every time she had formed a fire ball too big for his liking. Sage looked at Gale pointedly. Gale however, seemed very pleased with himself.

"If you had practiced harder, none of these would happen..." Gale said.

"But do you really have to use ice cold water? I may catch a cold you know", Sage protested.

Nonsense, Gale had responded. Sage was as healthy as a horse. She wouldn't get sick. Plus cold water build character. Then he proceeded of telling her a story about how he, as a young wizard, had stood under freezing waterfall for hours to toughen himself up and to improve his concentration.

Sage had rolled her eyes. "See what I have to put up with?" She muttered with a low voice to Gill. But then she turned serious. "I don't know if I would ever be ready for the Witch", she sighed.

"Maybe I can teach you some fighting techniques," Gill offered. An idea formed in his head. Maybe he could even suggest that he ought to move into the farmhouse as well to help Sage with her training, he thought, impressed at his own ingenuity. Then he would be able to spend more time with Sage.

" And you know...um, I was thinking...maybe, uh, I should move into the farmhouse as well, so I could..." Gill stopped. Gale was giving him such a fierce and scary look. It was as if he knew of Gill's ulterior motive.

"Uh..never mind," Gill continued, blushing. He focused on eating his soup.

"You are welcome here anytime. But..", Gale rose from his seat and towered over Gill. From Gill's perspective, Gale seemed to have grown taller, bigger, and was it just his imagination, or were those devil horns growing on Gale's head?

"No staying overnight!" Gale bellowed.

"Uh..okay...okay", Gill said, shrinking into his chair. He remembered being turned into a dolphin by the Wizard. Yup, the Wizard was not someone he wanted to cross, he shuddered.

"Anyway...is everyone ready for the main course?" Sage got up and started to collect the soup bowls. Gill helped her carried the dishes to kitchen sink.

The Wizard had of course secretly thought that Gill was a decent young man, but it was his job to keep Gill on his toes. Gale sat back down, watching Gill and Sage bringing more food to the table. He could see how Sage's face brightened whenever her eyes fell on Gill, and he could see the scared look on Gill's face. Gale was trying hard not to smile, and to keep up the stern face. Then he looked out of the window at the dark clouds coming in the distance horizon and wondered, if happy times like these were the calm before the storm.

And so this was how weeks passed into months in Harmonica Town, and cool Fall turned into bitter Winter.

End of Chapter 13


	14. Chapter 14: Winter Birthday

Warning: This section contains violence.

Note: Revised to correct grammar. I was told apparently the past tense of kneel is knelt, not kneel-ed.

Chapter 14: Winter Birthday

"Thanks for coming! Good night! Watch your step!" Sage waved at Luke, Owen and Kathy. She had invited the group over to the farmhouse for Gill's birthday dinner. The dinner had been a blast. Gill had been surprised. He knew that Sage was making him dinner for his birthday, but he didn't expect his friends to be there.

Sage closed the door behind her. She and Gill were now standing in front of the house alone. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her. The winter night was clear and she could see the stars, thousands or maybe millions of them. She could see her breath. She ought to come inside soon, she thought. But she didn't really want to. She wanted to stand here beside Gill forever.

"I guess I should head home soon" Gill broke the silence.

Sage turned her face towards him and feelings surged in her heart. Then without thinking, she tip-toed and kissed him. Gill was surprised, but after a moment of hesitation, he pulled her into him and kissed her back.

"Sage, I lov..."

And that was when the world was blown to pieces.

Sage whipped her head towards the far corner of the farm where the explosion came from. She heard someone, something, screamed.

"Go get my grandpa!" she yelled at Gill before running towards the explosion.

"Sage. No!" Gill was trying to grab her but failed. He had no choice but to run into the house.

"Wizard! Wizard! She is here!" he yelled, grabbed his sword and ran back out. Ever since the incident with the Witch in Fugue forest, he had been carrying his sword with him everywhere he went. Gale trailed behind him with his staff.

As Sage approached the explosion she could see the Witch looking startled. There was another wizard shrouded in gray cloak crouching beside her holding his side. In front of the Witch, a couple of dozens creatures laid dead. The creatures reminded her of the moles, except they were much bigger than the moles she found in the Harmonica Town mines. The moles in the mines were about the size of a cat, while the moles the Witch had brought were about the size of a dog, a very large dog. They had red eyes and rabid foams came out of their mouths. There were about four creatures left standing.

You've got to be kidding me, she thought, and she cursed under her breath at the unfairness of the universe. She was just about over her fear of the moles in Harmonica mines, and now, she had to face even a bigger, scarier one?

"You! You set the trap!" The Witch said.

"Actually, no. That would be my grandpa", Sage said, trying to sound calm. Her legs shook however, betraying her calm voice, and she felt nauseous as fear built in her stomach. Never show your fear, Grandpa Gale had told her. Easy for you grandpa, Sage thought. Finn. Gill. Grandpa. She kept saying their names over and over again in her head, like a chant or a prayer, to drown her urge to bolt.

"Tell me you are sorry..." Sage said, "for killing Finn. And release the Goddess and I won't hurt you".

The Witch laughed, "As if! You think you can hurt me? Look at you, shaking like a rabbit!" Then she commanded her creatures. "Get her!"

Sage hurled a fire ball at the Witch, which grazed her arm. The Witch cursed. The fireball had caught her by surprise. But before Sage could say "take that Witch", two of the moles leaped at her at once. Sage drew up her shield just in time to be rammed by the creatures. The shield held and absorbed most of the impact but she was still pushed backward. Thank Goddess that her grandpa had decided to refine her shield spell, making the shield stronger and more durable than before.

Two moles kept ramming themselves on her shield rabidly, forcing Sage to step backward with every blow. While the other two were circling her trying to find an opening. She tried to hit the two that circling her with fireballs but she kept missing them. Then one of the moles circling her decided to charge forward and this time, she blasted it with a fireball. The burning creature screeched and ran around wildly before it finally collapsed. One down, three to go.

Sage was distracted for a split second watching the burning creature when a strong blast hit her shield. The Witch and the gray cloak wizard had hit her with their blast. Her shield shattered and she was thrown back, wide opened. One mole leaped forward and clamped its jaw on her left leg. Sage screamed. She saw another mole came for her throat so she blasted it heads-on with a fire ball while being dragged away on her leg. Then she saw something sharp and gleaming above her head coming down. The mole released her leg and leaped to the left to avoid Gill's sword. Two down, two to go.

Sage and Gill stood back to back while the last two creatures encircling them. Gale was battling the Witch and her Wizard few feet away, sparks blasting between them.

"Sage..." said Gill.

"Yes?"

"There is something I want to tell you!"

"Okay, but I am kind of busy right now!" Her wounded leg throbbed as she hurled a fireball at the creature in front of her and missed. She cursed. Her snowflake flower bush took the fire instead, and lit up like a bonfire.

"It can't wait...I love you", Gill said.

"What?" Sage whipped around and faced Gill. Of all the times they had spent together, he chose NOW to tell her how he felt?

Gill looked over his shoulder when he realized that Sage had lowered her guard by turning her back against the creature she was facing before. The mole leaped at Sage while her back was turned. Gill grabbed her and dived onto the ground, but the mole's sharp claw managed to cut his arm. Gill gnashed his teeth. He could feel the gash on his arm starting to bleed as he jumped back up to his feet. The creature skidded and turned. But this time Gill was ready. He gripped his sword with both hands beside him, and as the creature rushed towards him, he cut down diagonally from left to right. Three down and one to go.

The last creature rushed towards Gill from the back, only to ram into Sage's shield as she placed herself between Gill and the mole. Then as the creature staggered back from the impact, Sage blasted it with a fire ball. Four down, she breathed.

Sage was about to celebrate, when a terrifying growl roared from behind them. She and Gill turned around.

"You have got...to be kidding me!" Sage gasped in disbelief. Another mole creature had emerged from the dark. It was bigger than a bear, with huge claws, and multiple red beady eyes, on two heads. Two-headed giant mole? Sage silently asked the universe why it was singling her out so cruelly. What bad things had she done in past to deserve this? Her leg was throbbing. And she could see that one of Gill's arm was covered in blood.

"So is this what farmers do in their spare time?"

Sage and Gill whipped their heads back at the same time and saw a very tall man standing behind them gripping what looked like a curved blade in each of his hands.

"Arashi!"

"Who the heck is he?" Gill frowned at Sage. And why did he look like the Mermen King, Gill had wanted to ask.

"Explain later!" Arashi said as he charged into the two-headed mole with a battle cry. Sage and Gill rushed after him.

The three fought valiantly. Arashi moved gracefully like a jungle cat, cutting and slicing with his blades. Gill circled and strike with full force with his sword whenever he saw an opening. And Sage tried to protect the two men with her shield whenever possible while slinging her fireballs at the creature.

Finally, after what seemed to be a very long time, the creature gave up its fight and died. Gill, Sage and Arashi knelt on the ground, breathless. Sage looked up towards her grandfather. She could see Gale was cornered by the Witch and the gray cloak wizard. She pushed herself up and ran towards the battle.

"Sage, no!" Gill yelled, but she ignored him.

Sage blasted the Witch with her fireball and hit her left leg. The Witch screamed and then dropped herself to the ground, rolling, trying to put the fire out. The gray cloak wizard was momentarily distracted by the Witch's scream and was hit by a blast from Gale. He was thrown backward, crashing into the ground.

Gale muttered a spell and a silvery white orb was formed in his hand. He flung the ball at the gray cloak wizard who was staggering to get onto his feet. The orb bloomed into what looked like a net made of silvery ribbons and then they wrapped around the gray cloak wizard tightly, binding him like a cocoon.

"I'll get you for this!" The Witch blasted Sage's shield with powerful magic energy. The shield took three blasts before it shattered and sent Sage flying backward. Three blasts, Sage thought as she hit the ground. Her whole body throbbed with pain, and her bleeding leg was screaming. But she pushed herself up and mustered her shield once more with her left hand. One. A powerful blast hit her shield while she willed a fireball to form in her right hand. Two. The second blast hit and the fire ball in her hand grew bigger. Three. She dived to the side to avoid the blast while at the same time disbanding her shield and hurling a fireball at the Witch.

The Witch shrieked as the fireball hit her right leg this time. She was frantically patting her leg trying to put the fire out, she didn't see a glowing silver orb bloomed into a net behind her. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, bound tight like in a cocoon.

Gale stood towering above the cocoons of the Witch and the gray cloak wizard. He looked up the sky and reached out with his right hand. Lightning cracked and surged into his open palm and a lightning ball was formed.

"Wait...wait! You are not going to kill them, are you? I mean, I know they deserve it. But death...death seems so...so final," Sage said, breathing hard. "Please, grandpa..." She continued, "I...I don't want their blood on your hand".

The lightning ball fizzled. Just like Angela, Gale thought, and his heart swelled with pride and love.

"Remember this day, Witch," Gale addressed the tightly bound Witch, "remember this moment, when my granddaughter begged for your life. You come after her again, and I will not show you any mercy".

"What are you going to do with them?" Gill asked.

"I am going to create a spell to rob them of their magic power and confine them to the Fugue forest", Gale answered.

Gill nodded. "I will let the townsfolk know that they shouldn't go into the forest anymore".

"So is it over?" Sage asked.

"I think so Sage", Gale responded, gently.

"Good..." she said. She was so tired, and her whole body screaming with pain. She wanted to have a good long sleep, so she closed her eyes, falling onto the ground, losing consciousness.

End of Chapter 14

Author's note: Grrr...action sequences are so hard to write. Not the perfect big bang climax that I had hoped for, but please, enjoy it anyway. And yes, I noticed the plot holes such as why only Sage had shield and the others didn't. Um...I don't know...I can't explain it right now. Sorry :o)


	15. Chapter 15: Is It Over?

Chapter 15: Is It Over?

The next time Sage opened her eyes, she found herself lying in bed in the clinic. Three worried faces hovering above her.

"She is awake! How are you feeling?" Gill asked.

"Okay. Thirsty.."she croaked. Her throat was dry. Gale got a glass of water and helped her drink.

"So who are you exactly, Arashi? You know, you reminded me of someone" Gill eyed Arashi. Now that the battle was over and Sage was okay, the question was back on his mind.

"I probably reminded you of my father. I am the Mermen King' son. The one you saved by giving my father the black pearl, remember? " Arashi said.

Hearing that Gill jumped from his chair. "You stay away from her!" He hissed, "I know all about your pheromone!"

"What pheromone?" Sage asked.

"The mermen pheromone. They used it to lure women and kidnap them", Gill responded.

"Aren't you a feisty one?" Arashi smiled at Gill. "Too bad you are a boy..."

"But don't worry", Arashi continued, "my mermen pheromone disappeared along with my mermen tail when I transformed into a man. And anyway, you and Sage saved my life, I wouldn't use my pheromone to lure and kidnap her".

"I don't believe you" Gill's eyes narrowed.

"Enough!" Gale interrupted. "Gill, calm down. Arashi, if you kidnap my granddaughter, you are a dead mermen. No fighting!"

"What about the Goddess?" Sage asked.

Gale then explained to her that he had released the gray cloak wizard who turned out to be just a mercenary wizard recruited by the Witch. The gray cloak wizard had given Gale his word that he wouldn't show his face in Harmonica Town ever again. Then Gale had transported the Witch back to her house in Fugue Forest, performed a spell that robbed her of her magical power, and confined her once again to the forest. He took the Witch's medallion and together with Arashi and Gill, they had stepped through the portal.

The portal had brought them into a forest in the middle of the night. The forest was full of giant, old, gnarly trees, with a small path twisting through them. Just a little further along the path, they had found a clearing with a stone altar in the middle of it. A beautiful woman was laid on the altar, seemingly asleep. Her pale skin had been luminous under the moonlight, and her long green hair cascaded down the stone altar. Arashi, being the biggest and the tallest of the men, had gathered the Goddess in his arms and they took her back through the portal. Gale then had destroyed the medallion so it couldn't be used again.

"So how is she, the Goddess?" Sage asked.

"She will be fine. She is still a little weak. But she will regain her strength, slowly, now that she is back in her realm, her kingdom", Gale answered.

"Good. It's over then. The town is saved", Sage closed her eyes and sighed with relief.

"Er...not quite".

Sage's eyes jolted opened.

"Well, we still have to revive the Goddess Tree..." Arashi said. Hearing this, Sage had groaned. Here we go again, she thought.

"When the Goddess Tree died, it affected the sea and the mermen as well, so I was trying to find a way to save our ocean. Recently, I heard about the three magical rune stones, which, if they are put together, they will revive the Goddess Tree. I begged my father to let our Wizard to transform me into a human so I can look for these stones", Arashi continued.

"Did you find them?" Sage asked, hopefully.

"No, not yet. But I have a good idea of where they are so I came back to let my father know that I would be gone for awhile, and I thought you would want to come with me, Sage. I know you want to save Harmonica Town", Arashi said. Then looking at Sage directly, "So what do you say? Want to come with me and help me find them?"

"Where ever she goes, I go," Gill said hotly, before Sage could answer. "Besides, this is my town too", he added.

"Of course," Arashi shrugged, "I have expected that".

"Then we have a plan. After Sage recovered, you three will go and find the stones. I would stay here and keep an eye on the Witch," Gale frowned. He didn't want to stay really, what if something happened to Sage when he wasn't around? But he had seen her fought the giant mole and the Witch bravely so he was somewhat confident that she could take care of herself. And Gill wouldn't let anything or anyone harm her, Gale was sure of that. Furthermore, someone would have to stay just in case the Witch had somehow broken his spell and regained her power. Gale realized that he had no choice. He sighed.

It took a few weeks before Jin agreed to release Sage from the clinic, and now she found herself sitting beside Gill inside a horse wagon. They were on their way to a place called Mineral Town, to find the first rune stone. Arashi was driving the wagon at the front, chatting with Luke. Mayor Hamilton, Gill's father, had purchased the wagon and the horses from the Horn Ranch when Gill had told him of what he needed to do. Luke had asked if he could come. What about Selena? Gill had asked him, knowing that Luke had his eyes on the dancer for awhile. Well, it turned out that she didn't really like him, Luke had answered Gill with a sad smile.

Now sitting there in the wagon, Sage was deep in thought. She had gone to the Goddess Pond yesterday to find the Goddess. She had wanted to see the Goddess and told her how sorry she was that she had failed to keep Finn safe.

The Goddess had listened to Sage's story of Finn's last moments silently. She had woken the rest of her sprites and she had wondered what happened to the young sprite she had awaken months ago.

"So that was what happened," the Goddess looked at Sage with a benevolent smile. She could see the guilt and grief on the girl's face. "It is not your fault, child", she said kindly as she nodded at one of her sprites.

The sprite then brought the Goddess what looked like a seed pod, the size of a walnut. The Goddess placed the pod on her right palm. "When one sprite falls, another must be born", she said to the pod.

Right before Sage's eyes, the pod cracked opened and a green shoot grew. The shoot grew and grew, sprouting leaves and a flower bud. Then the flower bud bloomed slowly to reveal a baby sprite sleeping inside.

The Goddess looked at the sleeping tiny sprite and said, "Your name will be Finn, for your heart will always be bigger than your size". Then she beckoned Sage to take a closer look.

Sage gazed at the baby sprite and smiled. Then she nodded at the Goddess. "Thank you. I will revive the Goddess Tree. I promise".

Back in the wagon, Sage thought of the promise she made to the Goddess. Then she thought of the two-headed giant mole she had fought weeks ago. She sighed. What kind of danger she had to face this time? Her heart sunk. She wished she was as brave and adventurous as the heroes and heroines in the storybooks. But truthfully, even with all that she had done and all that she had faced, her stomach still turned at the thoughts of danger. She had promised the Goddess and she would keep it, but she couldn't honestly say that she was looking forward to her next adventure...then Gill broke her train of thoughts. He started talking to her.

"...You know I love you, don't you? I will not let anything hurt you. I promise", he said with a smile, as if he could read her mind.

Sage turned her face towards him. Gill. Her heart swelled and overflowed. Her fear melted away.

"I love you too", she said as she pulled him closer.

End of Chapter 15


	16. Chapter 16: The Lonely Kappa

Author's note: I haven't played any Mineral Town game for a while so I am sorry if the description depicted in this story is not accurate. Also, I couldn't remember if there is any river in the Mineral Town. However, for the purpose of the story, there will be. Some of the behavior of the Kappa described here may seem weird but, I didn't make this up. It came from Japanese folklore (thank you Google).

Revised to correct grammar.

Chapter 16: The Lonely Kappa

"She is the one he wants. It has to be her!" Duke said hotly, while Jeff nodded silently, agreeing with him.

"But...she is the only family I have", Doug wrung his hands and glanced at the red-haired girl sitting at one of the tables not too far away from him. Ann, the red-haired girl sighed. She didn't care one way or another. When Cliff and Jill announced their intent to wed, she thought her life was over, and she had cried for days. So what if she was forced to marry the Kappa? Cliff wouldn't care anyway. No, he wouldn't care, Ann shook her head, her eyes were tearing up.

"How do you feel if he asked for your children? Jeff, how do you feel if he had asked for Karen?" Doug pleaded, he was exasperated and desperate. "We couldn't just give our children away...to...to that monster!"

"So what do you suggest? To let the Kappa haunt our rivers forever? We won't be able to fish, or get water from the rivers, or wash our clothes! This is for the good of the Town, man. We have to do this!" Duke raised his voice. His face was red and he was breathing hard.

Before Doug could answer, the door of the Inn swung opened. In come a group of young people that Doug had never seen before. The tallest one of the group was a very handsome man with a fiery long hair. A pair of dagger scabbards tied around his thighs. He was followed by a solemn-looking blond man, carrying a sword on his back. Besides the blond, stood another young man, with blue hair poking out of his over-sized bandana, carrying an axe in his hand. His eyes darted excitedly around the room, taking in details. The shortest one of the group was a girl who was around Ann's age, with dark brown hair gathered in a ponytail. Unlike the rest of the group, she didn't seem to carry any weapon.

"Hi boss! What a fine establishment you have here!" Luke greeted Doug, Duke and Jeff.

"Uh...ah...sorry, folks. Please, don't mind my manners. Welcome. I am Doug, the owner of this Inn. These are Duke and Jeff, and that girl over there is my daughter, Ann".

"I am Gill, and these are Sage, Luke and Arashi. We have just arrived in Town, and we are wondering if you have any rooms we can rent?" Gill asked.

"Sure, how many rooms and how long you folks are going to stay?" Doug opened his huge, registration book on the bar counter.

"Three rooms and we are not sure how long we are going to stay yet. A few nights for sure, but can be longer", Gill answered, thinking of the day Gale made him promised that he wouldn't let Sage share any room with any boy before they left Harmonica Town. So, Gill was going to share a room with Luke. Arashi and Sage were each going to get their own room.

Luke sauntered towards Ann, "Heeey! My name is Luke, nice to meet you!" he grinned at her.

No, Cliff wouldn't care. Ann was still lost in her own thoughts, she covered her eyes with her hands and started to sob.

"Luke, what did you do?" Sage approached him.

"Uh...not..nothing. Nothing, I swear! I..I...I introduced myself to her", Luke was stuttering. He had never had this kind of reaction before whenever he introduced himself to girls. He had girls smiled at him, or rolled their eyes, but he had never met one who burst into tears, when he introduced himself to her.

"Er...Ann, right? Are you okay?" Sage said to the sobbing girl. She tilted her head towards Ann, trying to get a closer look at the crying girl's face. "Is he bothering you?" Sage pointed at Luke with her thumb. "I can beat him up for you, if you want".

"Hey!" Luke frowned. "Gill, your girlfriend is picking on me, bro!"

"That's probably because you deserve it. Bro." Gill smirked.

"No..no...sorry. It's just that he wouldn't care. It hurts...it hurts so much", Ann cried even more furiously.

"Who wouldn't care? You need to start from the beginning. We have just arrived, you see", Sage sat herself beside Ann, resting her elbows on the table.

Between the sobbing, Ann told Sage about how Cliff, the guy she liked, was about to marry another girl, and how he wouldn't care if Ann was about to be forced to become the Kappa's wife. She wasn't sure why she was telling this stranger, but she just wanted to get this out of her chest.

"This is for the good of the Town!" Duke bellowed. He was not pleased that Ann had just told a bunch of strangers what happened. This was none of their business, he thought. He stormed out of the Inn with a huff, with Jeff trailing behind him.

Sage's eyes narrowed as they followed Duke and Jeff walking out of the Inn. Yeah, she had seen this before, where a girl was forced to marry someone, usually someone much older and uglier than the girl, for the sake of family, town, or country, and so on. Sage thought that was a load of crap, and considering that Ann was about the same age as her, she started to understand why Ann had burst into tears in front of strangers. Surely, she would burst into tears too if her grandpa tried to force her to marry someone she didn't like. And she would definitely run away. Wait, what is a Kappa, she wondered.

"What's a Kappa?"

"It's a river sprite. They can be mischievous to humans. They have hollow cavities on top of their heads, which is full of water. They could be very strong but without the water in the cavities on their heads, they would be weakened and could possibly die", Arashi answered Sage.

"The water in their heads, huh? So that's their weakness..." Sage's mind churning.

"Yup, and they are a stickler to politeness. If you bow at them, they will bow back at you".

"It...it likes...cucumber.."Ann added between sobbing. "Sometimes I fed it cucumbers". Cucumbers from Jill's farm, she thought bitterly. Everybody loved Jill, even the Kappa had loved her cucumbers.

So it eats cucumber, Sage thought, and she relaxed. How scary could it be? Then she turned to Doug. "You are not going to let this happen, are you? I mean, you are not going to make your own daughter marry a water sprite?"

"Ah...why don't I show you folks to your rooms? Ann? Don't you have something to do in the kitchen?" Doug steered the young people away. Yes, he would not give his Ann to that monster, no matter what, Doug thought to himself. Then as he showed his guests to their rooms, he noticed how Sage was not only about Ann's age, she was about Ann's height and size as well. An idea formed in his mind.

That night, Sage awoke with a jolt. There is someone in my room, she thought. But before she could scream, a foul-smelling, damp cloth was pressed against her nose and mouth. Darkness took over her, and she went limp. Doug grunted as he lifted the girl and carried her over his shoulder.

Doug tied the unconscious girl to the tree beside the river. He looked at her face once more and he was filled with guilt and shame. "I am sorry. I am very, very sorry, but I can't let that monster have my daughter", he whispered to her before he turned and walked away.

"What? Where...?" Sage groaned as she opened her eyes. Then with panic, she realized that she was tied into a tree. She struggled as her stomach churning with fear. She was fortunate that the early spring night was not freezing cold, but she still shivered a little as she was only wearing her night gown. There was a note nailed to the tree beside her, and as she was wondering what the note said, a creature emerged from the river.

To call the Kappa ugly, was an understatement. He was short, much shorter than Sage. He had a yellowish green scaly skin, webbed feet and hands, and thick, rubbery-looking, lips. He had a bowl-like depression on his head, filled with water. Sage tried her her best not to scream, and her mind was racing as she tried to recall everything that Arashi and Ann had told her about the Kappa.

"Who could you be, human?" The Kappa sneered. He tore the note off the tree and started to read. "Dear Kappa. Please accept this girl as your bride. Her name is Sage. Please, take her instead of my daughter and leave us alone. Doug".

Doug. Sage cursed inwardly. Why, that conniving, evil, back-stabbing inn keeper!

"I see..." The Kappa peered at Sage, "well, you will do". He smiled. His mouth was full of sharp teeth.

"If...if you untie me, I have a...a...cucumber to give you.."

"Really?" He looked at Sage carefully, up and down. She didn't seem to be bringing any cucumber with her. Maybe she hide it inside her sleeping gown, he thought. He chuckled lewdly at that thought. He decided to untie her. What could she do anyway? She wouldn't be able to outrun or overpower him.

"I will untie you, but don't do anything stupid. I am stronger than ten men and I don't want to hurt you. There. Now where is my cucumber?"

"I...er, didn't bring any, actually..." Sage walked backwards, away from him.

"Why you!" The Kappa's blood started to boil. This girl was toying with him, he thought. He was about to lunge at her, when she started to bow. The Kappa stopped.

"It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kappa", Sage said, as she bowed from the waist.

The Kappa clasped his hands with delight. He just loved the idea of bowing, and being very polite, and formal. He loved this civilized aspect of humanity. He bowed back at Sage, mimicking her. "The pleasure is all mine", he said. Then he suddenly felt weak and dropped to the ground.

The Kappa realized with panic that he had spilled the water in his head when he bowed to Sage. He tried to crawl back to the river to replenish his water, but he was too slow. Sage had sat on his back, using her weight to effectively pin him down to the ground on his stomach. Normally, he would be able to shake off a slender girl like Sage, but with his water gone, he was powerless. He squirmed, trying to get her off him, but to no avail. Sage had planted her backside firmly on his back.

"No use in struggling. You are weak without your water, aren't you?" Sage said.

"Please! Please don't hurt me...I am sorry! I am sorry! Don't hurt me. I need to get to the river or I'll die!" the Kappa struggled and screamed.

"Swear to me that you won't terrorize this town anymore. And that you won't force any girl to marry you".

"I swear! I swear by the River, from which I was born! I swear...please...it's just...it's just that I...I...I am so lonely! Waaah!" The Kappa started to wail. Giant tears coming out of his eyes. His mouth was opened wide. "I...I thought...the red-haired...she was so nice to me...hic...she gave me cucumbers. I thought we could be...hic...happy together!" He was hiccuping between his sobs.

Sage looked at the bawling Kappa and smirked, trying hard not to laugh. It was hard to be afraid of cucumber-eating, hiccuping, crying Kappa, you see. The poor thing was just lonely, she knew that now. She was lonely too once, she recalled, all alone, before she came to Harmonica Town. Then, as if a light was turned on in her mind, she came up with an idea. That's it, she thought. It could work. She told Kappa her idea, and got him to agree with her before she got off him, and allowed him to replenish his water in the river.

End of Chapter 16


	17. Chapter 17: The First Rune Stone

Author's note: I haven't played any Mineral Town game for a while so I couldn't remember if there is any ocean/beach in the town. However, for the purpose of the story, there will be. I think I may have mixed up Jill with Claire too in previous chapters. Darn. Oh well. I don't own HM, of course.

Chapter 17: The First Rune Stone

Back at the Inn, it was early morning. Gill opened his eyes slowly. Then he sat up and swung his legs off the bed. He stretched and yawned. He had been so tired last night and had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He woke Luke up before paddling to the bathroom. He wanted an early start today, he thought, as he brushed his teeth. The first rune stone was somewhere in this town and they had to start searching for it. He wondered if Arashi and Sage were already awake. He decided that he would knock at their doors after he finished his morning routines.

Gill was about to knock at Sage's door when he realized that it was slightly ajar. He pushed the door to open wider and saw the slept-in bed. He stepped into the room and looked around. The bathroom door was ajar and he could see that there was no one in the bathroom. Sage's clothes were folded neatly on a chair beside the bed.

Gill rushed back into his own room. "Luke, wake Arashi up. I am going to look for Sage. She is not in her room".

Downstairs, he found Doug and Ann busy setting up tables for breakfast. "Morning", he greeted them. "Have you seen Sage this morning? The girl who came with me yesterday?".

"No, I am sorry. As far as I know she hasn't come downstairs", Ann said.

That was when the Inn door swung opened and Sage walked into the Inn in her night gown. Following her was the ugliest creature Gill had ever seen. The creature was all green and scaly, like fish. He heard Doug gasped loudly.

"Morning!" Sage chirped brightly. "I am back", she looked pointedly at Doug, whose face at this moment had turned beet red.

"What's going on, Sage?" Gill frowned. He heard Arashi and Luke coming downstairs together.

"Why don't you ask him", Sage gestured at Doug with her head. When Doug didn't say anything, she continued, "He took me from my room in the middle of the night, and tied me to a tree, trying to make me take Ann's place".

"Really? How dare you!" Gill turned to face Doug. Sage put her hand on his upper arm to call him down.

"I am okay, Gill. Nothing happened to me. Thanks to Arashi and Ann for mentioning water and cucumbers. And actually, the Kappa and I had reached an agreement".

"Huh?"

"Well, the Kappa had promised not to terrorize this town anymore. He also promised that he won't force any girl to marry him. But with one condition", Sage looked at Doug. "That he will be allowed to work here in this Inn, maybe a few times a week".

"What?...what...?" Doug wasn't sure what he was hearing. Sage moved closer towards him.

"The Kappa is lonely, you see. I figure if he is kept busy here and meet some new people, he won't be as lonely, and he won't bother anyone anymore", Sage spoke to the Inn keeper in a low voice.

"But...but what is he going to do?"

"I don't know, you figure it out. Supposedly he is stronger than ten men. I am sure you can use someone like him. Look, you take him as your employee and I will forget about you trying to kidnap me and give me to the Kappa. So what do you say?"

"I see. I understand..." Doug said, beaten. "Yes, I agree with this condition. The Kappa will work here in this Inn for three times a week". Then he looked at Sage in the eyes, "I am really sorry for what I have done, miss. I just couldn't bear the thought of my Ann..."

Sage raised her hand to stop him. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. Just treat the Kappa nicely, remember, he is just lonely". Then she turned to the Kappa.

"Now, you be nice to them, you hear? Work hard. Don't let me down".

Great, now I sound like Gill, Sage thought, wrinkling her forehead. The Kappa had nodded and seemed pleased. Who knows, Sage thought, as she looked at the Kappa, maybe one day there will be a girl who can look beyond that face and actually will marry him on her own free will.

"Well, so what's the plan for today?" she asked Gill.

"We have to find the rune stone, but you are not going anywhere in a night gown".

"Huh? Oh, that's right!" Sage looked down at her night gown and felt her face burning. She wondered why she had always managed to land herself in awkward situations. It was definitely her biggest talent, for sure.

"What is this rune stone you are talking about?" The Kappa asked.

Gill explained to the Kappa the story of the rune stone and the Goddess tree, while Sage raced upstairs to change her clothes.

"That sounds like a trinket I received a long time ago. I was trying to steal...um, borrow a horse which belonged to a traveling merchant. He exchanged the horse with a trinket and told me that it was a powerful magic stone. The trinket looked like a polished rock with indentations here and there, and a weird inscription. I couldn't get it to do anything though. So I exchanged it for...um, I gave it to the Mermaid", the Kappa said.

Gill, sensing that the Kappa didn't tell him the whole story, looked at the Kappa with what he hoped was a very intimidating look, and asked him, "What did you exchange the stone for, Kappa?"

The Kappa squirmed under Gill's gaze. Arashi and Luke started to crowd him, trying to intimidate him as well. Then he answered with a whisper, "I...I exchanged it for a love potion...I thought after I got a girl alone with me, I would make her drink the potion..."

If the Kappa could blush, he would turn deep crimson right about now, but he couldn't, so he stayed kind of yellowish green. Beads of sweat formed in his forehead. He wrung his webbed hands and looked down to the floor.

"Give me the potion. You are not going to spring it on any unsuspecting girl", Gill held out his hand.

The Kappa nodded, meekly. "It's in my house. I will get it and give it to you".

"So where can we find this Mermaid?" Arashi addressed the Kappa.

"I'll take you to her", the Kappa answered. Then he frowned, "But she lives deep in the ocean. You won't be able to reach her house".

Arashi waved his hand, "Don't worry about that, I can reach her house. I will transform back into a mermen, as soon as I am swimming in the ocean. Let's go".

"Where are you going?" Sage asked Arashi from behind him. She had changed, washed her face and brushed her teeth. She definitely felt more awake and much better.

Arashi told her that they were going to the Mermaid's house deep in the ocean to fetch the first rune stone.

"But you couldn't go by yourself, it could be dangerous. I wonder if there is a way I can go with you..." Sage frowned. It could be dangerous she knew, but she just couldn't stand around while her friends were in the harm's way. Besides, she owed a lifetime debt of gratitude to Arashi. Without his pep talk a while back, when she was at the low point in her life, she wouldn't have the courage to go back to the Harmonica Town and face the Witch. She would have lost her Harmonica Town friends, and Gill, the man she loved. She wouldn't be reconciled with her grandfather. And although grandpa Gale was a very strict grandfather and Sage took a perverse delight in defying him from time to time, deep down she knew, that she wouldn't trade him for the world, or for anyone else for that matter. Yup, she owed a lifetime debt of gratitude to Arashi.

Gill looked at Sage with a frown. For someone who always cried "danger" at every turn, she seemed eager to rush head first towards it whenever Arashi was concerned, he thought. He wondered what was really going on in her head. He looked at Arashi and seethed. He had to admit, even without his mermen pheromone, Arashi was still a very attractive man.

"Don't worry Sage, I will be okay. In my mermen form, not many things can hurt me. Really. Don't worry. Plus the Wizard is not here. Who is going to transform you into a dolphin?"

"Oh...that's right", Sage's face fell. "But promise me that you are going to be very careful. And you are not going to do anything reckless at all"

"I promise", Arashi told her. He seemed pleased.

"Okay, but can we do this after breakfast? Because I am starving!" Luke chimed in.

After breakfast, they all headed to the Mineral Town beach. Ann had decided to tag along. She had followed the event unfolding in the Inn with interest and her own ordeal was temporarily forgotten. The group had stopped by the river, so the Kappa could fetch the love potion and gave it to Gill, who promptly poured it out in the nearby bushes. Now, they were standing by the wooden platform that extended from Mineral Town beach to the sea.

Arashi pulled his shirt above his head and dropped it to the ground. He was about to unzip his pants, when he thought of something.

"You may want to turn around, girls. I don't mind you looking but..." Arashi smiled at Ann and Sage. The girls blushed as they turned. They heard the pants unzipped and dropped into the ground. Then they heard a splash as Arashi and the Kappa dived into the waters.

Arashi swam a few loops and let out a long, satisfied sigh. He had missed the ocean. The water felt refreshingly cool on his skin and made him feel weightless. He had gotten used to the human legs, but fish tail felt much more natural to him. He saw the Kappa gestured at him to follow, so he flicked his tail harder and together, they swam quickly towards the Mermaid's dwelling.

The Mermaid lived in a small, red corral cottage. In front of the cottage, there was a small, fenced area filled with multicolored seaweeds. Beside the cottage, there was a smaller red corral cottage with the word "Buster" etched on its roof. As Arashi swam closer towards the cottage door, at the corner of his eye, he saw something big rushing towards him.

He swiftly dived and turned to avoid the shark. The shark, ignoring Arashi, continued his swimming towards the Kappa. It opened its mouth, which was of course, filled with sharp shark teeth, and tried to take a huge bite out of the Kappa's behind.

"Aaah! Stay away from me! Bad dog! Bad dog!" The Kappa screamed and swam around frantically, with the shark snapping at his heel.

"Buster! Come boy! Come here!"

Arashi turned his head and saw a cute, young mermaid hovering at the cottage door. She had short green hair and big, brown eyes. Her hair was decorated with pink sakura shells. The shark, which apparently was called Buster, had immediately stopped chasing the Kappa, and swam back towards its mistress. Now it was rubbing itself at the mermaid's tail affectionately.

"Good boy..." The mermaid cooed at the shark. Then she raised her head, realizing that there was a mermen watching her.

"And who are you?" She eyed the mermen, raising her eyebrows. Other than her parents, she had never seen another mermen or mermaid before. And since her parents passed away, she had lived all alone in this little cottage.

"I am Arashi, the second son of the Mermen King of the Harmonica Ocean. And who would you be, miss?" Arashi flashed his dazzling smile.

"Leia, my name is Leia", she blushed. A prince, she thought, and he was quite dashing too.

"Leia...could you not chain Buster to his house or something? He always tries to eat me", the Kappa whined.

"Serve you right, Kappa! You are always lurking around trying to peep through the window. Pervert!" Leia stuck her tongue out.

Arashi gave the Kappa a sharp look. "That is not how you treat a girl, you know", he said. Then he turned to Leia.

"He won't do that ever again, Leia. Now, I know that it seemed awfully fast, considering we have just met and all that, but I have a favor to ask you" he approached her slowly, looking directly at her eyes.

"Uh...okay...what kind of favor?"

Arashi then told her the story of the Goddess Tree and how it could only be revived by three magical rune stones, and how the Kappa had given Leia one of the rune stones in exchange for a love potion.

"So you want me to give you this stone, is that it?"

"Yes. And the Mermen Kingdom will be forever in your debt"

Leia thought for a moment before she finally responded, "Alright, you can have it. It is useless for me anyway. Wait here. I will get it for you", Leia flicked her tail and went into the cottage. She came out a few minutes later, carrying a small stone, which she handed to Arashi.

"Thank you Leia", Arashi said. He bent his head towards her and spoke in a low voice, making sure that the Kappa didn't hear him, "By the way, don't give the Kappa anymore love potion, okay?"

"Don't worry", Leia whispered back. "The Kappa heard about the mermen and how their pheromone effect women. And he got this idea that I could get him a mermen pheromone. He kept pestering me for it so finally, I gave him some water. I told him that it was a love potion made out of mermen pheromone".

Arashi chuckled. "Is that so? Well then, thank you again for the stone. 'Till we meet again", he waved at her before swimming away, with the Kappa trailing behind.

Leia followed Arashi with her eyes and sighed. She turned to her shark. "So what do you think Buster? Do you think we should visit Harmonica Ocean one of these days?".

That day, neither she, nor Buster knew that the fateful encounter with the Mermen Prince, would lead her to leave her comfortable little cottage, got lost, and found, by a mad scientist called Daryl, and that she would latter end up in a water tank inside Daryl's house.

End of Chapter 17


	18. Chapter 18: Ann's Decision

Author's note: I haven't played any Mineral Town game for a while so I couldn't remember if there is any ocean/beach in the town. However, for the purpose of the story, there will be. I don't own HM, of course. Btw, thanks for reviews, they kept me going. Thanks again.

Chapter 18: Ann's Decision

Meanwhile, on the wooden platform that extended from Mineral Town beach to the sea, a group of young people sat waiting. If you were just passing by and glanced at them, you would probably have thought, what a serene looking picture of a group of friends sitting around on the beach, enjoying the breezy spring morning. If you have stayed and watched them a little longer, you would have seen how the energetic, blue-haired man, jumped up and started to pace around. You would have seen how the brown-haired girl started to fidget, muttering to herself, her forehead wrinkled with worry. She would not have noticed how a solemn-looking blond man sitting quietly beside her would surreptitiously glanced at her. The blond man's face was stoic, betraying the turbulence in his heart, which at the moment was full of furious thoughts directed towards the brown-haired girl and one particular mermen. The red-haired girl who was sitting by the edge of platform and dipping her feet in the ocean, was also lost in thoughts, except that unlike the other three, her thoughts did not have anything to do with mermen, rune stones or Goddess Tree. She was in fact, was mulling about her life and future in Mineral Town.

Arashi and the Kappa popped their heads above the waters and swam towards the wooden platform. Sage and Ann were now on their knees, looking expectantly at Arashi.

"You are...back..." Ann sighed and blushed. I am in love, she thought hazily.

"Yeah...what she said," a goofy smile was formed on Sage's face.

"Stand back, girls. I need to get out of the water", Arashi said. "And oh, when I do, I will start to change into human again. And...I will be naked of course. So you girls may want to cover your eyes", he winked at them.

"Come on Sage, you have to turn around. Luke, grab Ann", Gill sighed. He sounded tired. He just couldn't win, he thought.

"But I wanna see..."Sage protested.

"What's wrong with the girls, bro? It's as if they have gone bonkers or something", Luke struggled with Ann, trying to cover her eyes with his hand.

Gill sighed again, "It's the mermen pheromone. Women go nuts for it".

Arashi placed the rune stone on the platform and pushed himself up and onto the wooden platform. He winced. The transformation back to human form had begun as soon as he was out of the sea water, and this part was what he hated the most. Changing into mermen was a smooth and painless transition as it was his natural form. In contrast, changing into human was harsh and painful. Arashi felt his tail ripped into two before it was re-molded into a pair of human legs. He hissed and grunted, trying not to scream out loud from the blinding pain. Mercifully, the transition was quick, but it still left Arashi lying on the ground, feeling spent and breathless.

Sage and Ann had stopped struggling.

"Turn around", Gill told Sage sharply. Something in his voice caused her to jump and obey immediately. Then Gill turned to Arashi and helped him to dress for he could see that the mermen was so weak that he could barely lift his arms and legs.

"Luke, help me. We have to get him back to the Inn. Ann, grab the stone", Gill spoke as he pulled Arashi's right arm around the back of his neck. Luke took Arashi's left arm, and together the group went back to the Inn.

At the Inn, after they had laid Arashi on the bed, Gill had told Sage that she ought to tend to Arashi and see if he was okay, and he started to walk out of the room. Sage had asked him where he was going, but Gill ignored her and kept walking. Then he went to the Inn rooftop and sat all alone, looking at the Mineral Town below, brooding.

Gill wasn't sure why he felt what he felt. Thinking of Sage and the mermen had invoked such a dark feeling in his heart, one that he recognized as jealousy of course, but he couldn't remember if he had felt it before. He had dated other girls before Sage, so why it was so different this time? He frowned. And to be honest, he wasn't sure that he liked this much turbulence, this much feelings, this much complication. Gill had always liked things neat, organized and straight forward. He liked to be in control of everything, even in the matter of the heart. But whenever he was with Sage, he felt as if he was slowly losing control, of his head, of his emotions. To him at this moment, Sage was like an approaching storm, a hurricane, threatening to turn his world of order into chaos. He wasn't sure what to do, and not knowing what to do frustrated him even more...

The next morning, the group was ready to leave the Mineral Town. Arashi had gotten much better, thanks to hours of deep, dreamless sleep. As Sage, Luke and Arashi loaded the horse wagon with their packs and supplies for their journey, they heard a voice calling them.

"Hey, hey guys! Wait!" Ann came running towards them. She carried a large pack on her back, and another large bag filled with various pots and pans in her arms.

"Ann...what's going on?" Sage asked her.

"Please let me come with you! I...I want to help you find the rest of the rune stones...please! I...I can cook for you!"

"Does you father know about this?" Gill frowned at her.

"It's a very dangerous journey, Ann. Trust me, you don't want to go with us if you can help it", Sage said. Heck, I don't want to go if I can help it, she thought.

"Yes, I told my dad", Ann looked at Gill. Her blue eyes flashed. "I told him that I have made up my mind to help you guys find the rest of the rune stones. I told him that I want to travel and see the world beyond Mineral Town, and he can't stop me!"

"I know it will be dangerous, Sage", Ann continued. "But I...you are so brave. I...I want to be brave too. I won't get in your way, I promise...please, let me come with you". And most importantly, I don't want to be here for his wedding, Ann thought. But she kept that thought to herself.

"She thought I am brave", Sage whispered happily to Gill.

"You can be. With the right incentive" Gill responded, not looking at her.

"The more, the merrier!" Luke chimed in. "Come on guys, she wants to come with us. What's the harm in that? Ann, give me your bags..."

Ann handed her bags to Luke. I hope this is the right decision, she thought. She had been so sure hours ago but now, looking at the horse wagon, she started to have a second thought. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure anymore. She had been born and lived all her life in Mineral Town. This town was all that she had ever known. She had never left the Mineral Town for whatever reason. What was she doing, she thought. She was just an ordinary, small town waitress and cook. She was no hero, unlike these young people from the Harmonica Town.

"Don't worry, baby doll. I'll protect you, you can count on me!"

Ann raised her face and looked at Luke. He was standing on the inside edge of the wagon and had thrust out his hand, offering it to her. In her eyes, his smile seemed so sincere, and he seemed strong and confident. He had only known me for three days and he would protect me? What a strange man, she thought. Her heart fluttered a little, then she smiled back at him and took his hand, letting him to pull her up and into the wagon.

End of Chapter 18


	19. Chapter 19: Trap

Author's note: I haven't played HM Hero of the Leaf Valley or Save The Homeland, simply because I have already owned Game Cube, Wii and NDS, and I just couldn't justify a PS3 or PSP purchase. However, since I need more villains and heroes for the story, the next few chapters will take place in Leaf Valley, which means it is probably not accurate at all, since I haven't played the game. Other characters will be based on their Magical Melody counterparts. I don't own HM.

Revised to correct my stupid grammar.

Chapter 19: Trap

"That was some meal! You are such an awesome cook, Ann!" Luke patted his stomach satisfied.

"Yeah, that was really great. This stew is sooo good! You have to give me the recipe", Sage said. She glanced sideways at Gill. He had been awfully quiet and a little distant these past few days. Sage had asked him if there was anything bothering him, but Gill had brushed her off and told her that he was fine and not to worry. And whenever Sage had pressed on, he would clamped out completely and had refused to talk to her.

"Are you full? There is still some stew left", Sage asked Gill.

"Yeah, I am", Gill stood. "I need some air. I am going for a walk".

"I'll come with you", Sage rose and dusted her clothes.

"No, I prefer to go alone. If you don't mind".

"But..."

Gill looked at her, and something in the way he looked at her, made Sage stopped. It was the same exasperated look that he had given her a long time ago, when they had just met, whenever she talked about the Harvest Goddess. She hadn't seen that look for a while, and it scared her. She sat back down again without saying anything, feeling defeated.

"Nice night, isn't it?" Arashi sat beside Sage and glanced at her. He saw worry and fear on the girl's face. Once again, he was amazed at how her face was such an open book. You could tell what Sage was feeling simply by just looking at her. Arashi himself had always tried to keep a neutral look on his face, no matter what he felt inside. The girl had saved his life, faced a giant two-headed mole, the Witch, the Kappa and Goddess knows what else, but she wasn't going to win a poker game anytime soon, for sure. He smiled at that thought.

"What is it, Sage? You can always tell me, you know".

"I..I don't know. It's Gill. He has been very quiet and distant lately..." Sage's voice faltering.

"You think maybe...maybe that he regretted coming with us?" she asked Arashi with a small voice. Maybe he doesn't love me anymore, was what Sage had wanted to say but she was afraid to say it. She was afraid that if she had said it out loud, it would make it come true. Maybe I am not pretty enough, she wondered, thinking of Luna and how beautiful she was. Or maybe, Gill had realized what a coward she was and he had just about enough of her whining. Maybe...

"No, I don't think so", Arashi frowned. He could hear Luke and Ann chatted animatedly about food, Luke's favorite subject, across the camp fire. He inched closer to Sage. The girl looked miserable, sitting there squirming, lost in her own thoughts.

"You like him that much, huh?" Arashi stared at the camp fire. "You have never thought of anyone else?"

Sage shook her head slowly. "It has always been him. It can only be him. No one else will do", she whispered, more to herself, than to Arashi.

Arashi rose. "I think I am going to look for more fire wood", he said to no one in particular, and walked away, leaving Sage to her thoughts...

"You know, those two had been gone awhile", Luke said after some time had passed. "I am going to look for them. You girls stay here".

Luke found Gill sitting on a large rock in the woods, brooding, not too far away from the camp site. He and Gill had grown up together and they had been best friends ever since they were little, so he knew that whenever Gill was brooding like this by himself, it was a sign that something was really bothering him.

"What's up bro?" Luke said, sitting beside Gill on the rock. But not too close of course, because that would be just too...uh, uncomfortable.

Gill shook his head silently.

"Oh come on! We have known each other for what? All of our lives? I know something is bothering you!" Luke rolled his eyes.

"It's just...I don't know. This thing with Sage...it's complicated".

Complicated? Luke stared at Gill in disbelief. He had always thought that Gill was the kind of guy who thinks too much, making things overly complicated for no good reason. Many times he wished that his friend would just relax and go with the flow.

"What? You mean love is complicated?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.

When Gill didn't answered him, Luke sighed. "Okay, look, tell me honestly. You love her right?"

Gill nodded without saying anything.

"And she loves you?"

Gill nodded again, but a little less sure this time. Lately, I am not sure anymore whom she loves, he thought.

Then what is the problem, Luke thought with exasperation. He thought of Selena and how she didn't like him, well, not that way anyway. He still thought of Selena a lot, although lately, ever since Ann had joined the group, he found that he had been thinking of Selena a little less often.

"Bro..." Luke sighed. "You just don't know how lucky you are. I wish...I just wish that I have your complications". Luke shook his head and stood. "Complications make life worth living, bro. Life is so...so boring without them!"

"When I finally meet my most important person," Luke clenched his fist, "it would be like, complications be damned! We are gonna be together forever! And I am gonna protect her with everything I got!" Luke waved his arms around for emphasis. There were so many more things he wanted to say, and he wished he could say them more articulately to make Gill understand, but unfortunately, he was more of a man of action, not words.

Gill watched Luke getting excited and flailing his arms around, without saying anything for awhile. My most important person, he thought. Is that true that complications make life worth living? Why had he never thought of it this way before?

"Anyway, I am going to look for Arashi. He had been gone for awhile, collecting fire woods. Do you want to wait in the camp with the girls, or do you want to come with me?" Luke sighed. There is no way I could get through that thick skull, he thought.

"I'll come with you", Gill stood up.

"Alright, come on. Let's stop brooding and do something useful..."

"Arashi! Hey, Arashi! Where are you?" Luke and Gill had walked deeper into the woods and now they were calling out Arashi's name.

"Stop", Gill put his arm across Luke's chest to stop him as he was about to walk into a large hole in the ground. They both crouched at the edge of the hole and peered into it.

Arashi was lying on the bottom of the hole, on his stomach, motionless.

"Hey, Arashi! Are you okay?" Gill couldn't tell whether he was still alive or not, so he bent towards the hole a little further, stretching his neck, trying to get a better look. That was when he felt a hard blow into the back of his head, and the world turned dark at once. He slumped onto the ground. Beside him, Luke had laid on the ground as well, not moving, unconscious...

"You know, the guys had been gone for awhile. I wonder if they are okay?" Sage frowned. It had been an hour since Luke left to look for the other two men. "We should go look for them", she told Ann.

Suddenly, a couple of shadows jumped out of the darkness at Ann. Sage heard her scream. But before she could do anything, something swept her off her feet and she fell backward.

A man with spiky brown hair landed on her, straddling her. Sage gasped and by reflex, she punched him in the face. The man swiftly moved his head to avoid her fist and caught her wrist with his left hand as it brushed past his face. He caught her other wrist with his right hand as she tried to punch him the second time, and then he pressed both of her wrists onto the ground, trying to pin her down.

"Stop struggling. I don't want to hurt you", the man growled.

Sage looked at the man towering above her with furry. "Get off me!" she screamed. On her right, opened palm, a fire ball grew.

The man looked at the fire ball and released her at once. He jumped backward, staggering. "What? What are you?" He gasped.

"Someone you don't want to mess with!" Sage jumped to her feet and hurled the fire ball at him. The man somersaulted and avoided her fire ball. Sage cursed. She just missed the horse wagon. She turned to Ann who was standing a few feet away. One of Ann's assailants was lying on the ground, not moving. Ann was holding a frying pan with both hands and facing a man wearing a blue cap.

"Stay away from her!" Sage screamed and hurled a fire ball at the blue cap man. The blue cap man turned his head and dived to the side just in time, to avoid the fire ball. Sage caught movement at the corner of her eyes and drew up her shield. The tall, spiky-haired man slammed into the invisible shield.

"Who the heck are you? Why are you attacking us?" Sage stepped backward slowly, with Ann behind her, still clutching the frying pan. Her magic shield was drawn between her and the two men who were now circling the girls.

"Where did you take the townsfolk? Tell us, and we won't hurt you. Tim is only a child for goddess' sake! Funland corporation won't get away with this!" The brown eyes of the blue-cap man flared.

"What on earth are you talking about? I don't know any Tim or Funland whatever!" Sage barked back.

"Eh? ...You mean you don't work for Alice? For Funland?"

"No!" Sage and Ann yelled in unison.

"Oh", the blue-cap man said and he stopped circling. "Ahaha...sorry about that. We thought you were Alice's goons. Ah...sorry, I am really sorry...It just that Funland had taken some people from our town, including Kurt's brother", he said sheepishly.

"I am sorry, let's start this over again. My name is Jack, and this is Kurt. The one lying there is Louis", Jack gestured at himself, the spiky-haired man and the groaning man lying on the ground.

Sage was furious. What's wrong with these people, she thought. They could have asked her first before they attacked her. She could have hurt them badly with her fire balls. Especially this brute of a man. She glared at Kurt. Kurt, not saying anything, glared back at her defiantly.

So this is what a witch looks like, Kurt thought, as he stared at Sage. He had heard of witches and wizards of course, of terrifying, indescribable things they could do, but he had never actually met one, until today. This witch had looked so ordinary, Kurt thought, so human-like, and not what he had in mind at all.

"Ah...it's just a misunderstanding then. I am Ann, and this is Sage. She is from the Harmonica Town and I am from the Mineral Town. We are just passing by with our friends..." Ann frowned. "...Who went into the woods a while back and haven't returned", she continued.

"Really?" Jack said. A look passed between him and Kurt. "Well, why don't we all sit down. I think I know where your friends may be".

End of Chapter 19


	20. Chapter 20: Funland Corporation

Author's note: a succubus will be mentioned here because I have always wanted to write a story about them ever since I watched the TV Series Lost Girl last year. However, in the interest of keeping the T-rating of the story, the succubus activity will be...um, seriously curbed.

Chapter 20: Funland Corporation

Gill opened his eyes and groaned. He had a splitting headache. Where am I, he thought as he looked at the ceilings that he didn't recognized.

"Ah, you are awake. Good. How are you feeling? You got hit in the head pretty bad, I think", a gentle voice was talking to him.

"Huh?" Gill focused his eyes on a girl who was kneeling beside him. She had a long pink hair, which reminded Gill of Luna. Right now her cool hand was resting on his forehead.

"And your friend is fine too, I think. He regained consciousness just a few minutes before you do", she waved at Luke who was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and his eyes closed. There was a kid knelt beside Luke, peering at him with a look of concern. There were a couple other people huddled at the other corner of the room. It seemed that they were all sitting in a prison cell or some sort.

"Who are you? Where are we?"

"Ah, I am sorry. Where is my manner? My name is Lyla. That kid over there is Tim. The guy sitting in the corner is Joe. And the old guy, I think his name is Wada. He hasn't said much, I am afraid. What's your name? You and your friend are not from around here, are you? And where we are, I don't know", Lyla sighed. "I think we are still in Leaf Valley somewhere, deep in a mine".

"I am Gill and that's my friend, Luke. We are just passing by", he winced as he sat up. He had been lying on the floor and he definitely had a really bad headache. "Have you seen a tall guy with long red hair being brought in?"

Lyla shook her head, "No. Another friend of yours?"

Gill nodded. "Who took us and what do they want with us?"

Lyla explained that the Funland Corporation, a mysterious company headed by a heartless woman named Alice and her right hand man, Charles, was the one that had taken them.

"Funland has been kidnapping us townsfolk, to force us to work in the mine. They needed to find some rare ores so they kidnapped us and made us their slaves" Lyla continued.

Meanwhile, in another room, not too far away from the prisoner cell, a beautiful, willowy woman with pale hair in large pigtails, towered over a man strapped tightly into a chair. Odd machinery of all kinds and sizes, whizzing and grinding around the room.

"This one is so beautiful..." Alice purred as she peered at Arashi.

"I thought that you may like him", Charles, her assistant, spoke to her.

Alice's fingers brushed Arashi's hair aside and moved to trace his face, lingering for a second longer on his lips. Then she bent her head towards him and whispered in his ear, "If you work for me, handsome, you don't need to work in the mine. What do you say?"

"I am flattered, succubus. But sorry, my calendar is already kind of full. I don't have time to be your slave", Arashi said calmly.

"Oh, you know what I am!" Alice squealed with delight. "But then the question is, what are you?" She eyed Arashi more closely. When Arashi didn't answered, she laughed. "Oh, I'll find out what you are, you stubborn man". Her green eyes gleamed. "And make no mistake, you will be my slave at the end, just like other men before you..."

"Now..." She continued, "I want a little taste". She cupped Arashi's face with both of her hands, her own face just inches away and then she inhaled. Arashi's life force flowed away from his mouth like smoke. Arashi convulsed and gasped. After a few seconds, Alice released him and Arashi went limp.

"You are delicious, as I have expected, mermen", Alice said, licking her lips. "Hum...now I am in a bind. Should I keep you for myself or should I sell you to the Professor? He will pay a very high price for you indeed. I heard he had managed to catch a mermaid for himself. I am sure he would want a mermen to complete the pair". Then she frowned, "However, you seemed to have lost your tail and gained human legs instead. That won't do. The professor wouldn't want to buy you in this form. Well..." She sighed happily, "I guess I would just have to keep you for myself. At least I still have that old, ugly guy. I think he is a witch doctor or some sort. I can definitely sell him to the Professor".

"Charles, take him back to the cell", Alice nodded to her assistant.

"Yes, mam" Charles bowed at Alice. He unstrapped the weakened Arashi and dragged him away.

Charles thrown Arashi into the cell with the others, and banged the cell door closed before he locked it.

"Arashi, are you okay?" Luke asked as he and Gill bent over him.

"Yeah", Arashi groaned, trying to push himself up. "A succubus just took some of my life force. But I will be fine. I'll recover", he said weakly.

"We need to find a way out of here", Gill said, looking around the cell.

"It's no use", Joe said, "I can pick the lock of the cell but we won't get far. Alice had many goons guarding this place. We can't fight them all. None of us has weapon of any kind".

"I...I want to go home..."Tim whined and started to cry.

"Ssh...we will be okay, honey. We'll go home soon", Lyla gathered Tim in her arms, trying to comfort the boy.

Gill thought of Sage, and he hoped, against all hope, that she wouldn't get an idea in her head that she ought to try to save them from Funland. Please Goddess, he thought. Keep her safe and don't let her think that she can storm her way in here to find us.

Unfortunately for Gill, that was the very thought that Sage had in her head at that moment. Sage, Ann and the rest of the Leaf Valley townsfolk had gathered at the Sun Garden cafe, the Valley cafe, discussing on how they were going to take down the Funland corporation, once and for all.

"But we don't know where they are", a burly, dark-skinned man spoke.

"Yeah, that's a problem", Sage frowned. She glanced sideways at Kurt. The man had been staring at her since they met, making her uncomfortable.

"What is it?" Annoyed, she finally turned to him and asked him.

"You are a witch", he pointed it out to her as a-matter-of-fact.

"Not quite. My grandfather is a full-blown wizard. But me..I am...", Sage hesitated. What am I, she wondered. "I am a farmer", she finally decided.

Kurt raised his eyebrows. Sure, he thought, if you are a farmer, then I am a horse. But he kept that thought to himself and he tried his best not to stare at Sage anymore.

Then there was a loud, sharp noise as the cafe's window was being broken from the outside. An olive-skinned man dressed in animal fur leaped through the broken window and landed on the cafe floor gracefully, like a cat.

"I find them. I take you. Come", the jungle man gestured at them all.

"Shea, you are back. And you found Funland, you say? Good man", Jack greeted the jungle man.

"By the way, everybody, this is Shea. I met Shea a while back when people started to disappear. Funland took his foster father, Wada, from their jungle as well. So now Shea is helping us to track them down", Jack explained.

"Er...Shea, right? The door is not locked, so you don't need to break the window, you see", Sage pointed at the door.

Shea looked at Sage with a blank expression as if he didn't understand her. He turned to Jack and repeat himself, "I find them. I take you. Come".

"Alright everybody, you hear the man. Let's go! We are going to make Funland pays for what they have done!" Jack said. The Leaf Valley men were clamoring, gathering all sorts of weapons and started to walk out of the cafe.

"Ann, stay here. I'll get the guys out of there", Sage whispered to Ann.

"But..."

"Please, stay. If something happens to me, I need you to go to the Harmonica Town, and let my grandpa know what happened, okay?"

Ann thought for a while and then she finally nodded. Sage breathed a sigh of relief. Well, at least one of her friends will be safe. Please, Goddess, she said a prayer in her head, don't let me be too late. Please keep them alive and well. Especially Gill. Sage tried not to think what would she do if Gill...

"Where are you going? Women stay here", Kurt held Sage's arm as she tried to follow the Leaf Valley men.

"No", she said stubbornly. "Funland has my friends so I am going with you. You know what I can do, I can take care of myself". She yanked her arm free.

Kurt let her pass without saying anything. It wasn't as if she was his friend. He had just met her. So if this girl wanted to get herself killed, he wasn't going to waste his time arguing. He followed Sage with his eyes and wondered if all witches were as unfeminine and stubborn as this one.

"You coming? You warrior?" Shea asked her.

Sage sighed. "No", she said. "I am a farmer", she told him indignantly before walking out of the cafe.

End of Chapter 20


	21. Chapter 21: Of Villains and Heroes

Author's note: an incubus will be mentioned here. However, in the interest of keeping the T-rating of the story, I tried not to go overboard with the incubus. Oh, and there is some violence.

Chapter 21: Of Villains and Heroes

The red-haired man called Charles took Arashi out of the cell again the next day. Gill and Luke tried to prevent him but Charles brought few guards with him to restrain them while he dragged Arashi out. Then as the guards were trying to shepherd the rest of the prisoners out to the mine to start their shift, a loud alarm resounded throughout the mine.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! All hands to mine entrance!" The guards shoved the prisoners back into the cell, locked it and rushed towards one direction..

"Now, it's our chance", Gill said. "Joe, can you open the cell door?"

"Don't have to tell me twice", Joe said and already, he knelt in front of the cell door trying to jimmy the lock using a small thin wire and a toothpick. There was a decisive click and Joe pushed the cell door open.

"Luke, you and Joe will take everybody and get out of here. Go!" Gill said as he rushed out of the cell.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked.

"I am going to get Arashi".

Arashi closed his eyes and breathed hard. The succubus had fed on him again and he was trying not to think of how many feedings he could survive. He was trying to figure a way out of here when he felt fingers working on his straps. He opened his eyes to see Gill untying him from the chair.

"Gill?"

"Come on, we have to get out of here", Gill yanked Arashi up by the arm. He hooked his arm around Arashi's waist trying to support him.

"I...I can't walk too far...I am just going to slow you down", Arashi gasped. "Leave me. I'll be fine".

"Stop the heroic nonsense. I am not leaving you here..." Gill hesitated. "Besides, Sage is going to be very sad if something happens to you", he continued ruefully.

Hearing this, Arashi wanted to chuckle but what came out of him was a rasping breath instead. What a strange guy, he thought. And because of his strange principle, Arashi thought, he might owe Gill his life once more, if they managed to get out of here alive. The universe had such an ironic sense of humor, Arashi decided.

"She chose you, you know", Arashi told Gill as the shorter man slowly guiding him out of the room. Gill stiffened.

"How do you know that?"

"I asked, and she told me".

"Ah, look at you two love birds. Where do you think you are going?", a woman's voice rung from behind them. Arashi and Gill turned slowly. Gill put Arashi down gently on the floor, then he stood between Alice and Arashi.

"Careful Gill. She is a succubus. Don't get too close", Arashi rasped.

Gill crossed his arms in front of him in a defensive stance. "I don't want to hurt you. Let us go".

"Sure, I'll let you go...", Alice said. "Not! ...Hiiyaah!" She rushed towards Gill and leaped, trying to kick him at the side of his head. Gill blocked her kick with his arm. As soon as she landed, she crouched down and tried to sweep Gill off his feet. But Gill jumped backward to avoid her leg. Alice rose and kicked again, and this time, the top of her foot connected to Gill's side. Gill grunted and staggered a couple of steps to the right. Then he quickly regained his stance, and stood facing Alice once more, re-crossing his arms in front of him.

"Why are you not trying to fight me?" Alice frowned at him.

"I don't want to hit you", Gill said. "I will never raise my fist against a woman".

Both Alice and Arashi stared at him in disbelief, then Alice threw her head back and laughed.

"That was the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" She bellowed.

"Come on Gill. She is not a woman. She is a demon. Fight her!" Arashi yelled. Who has the heroic nonsense now, Arashi thought furiously.

"No!" Gill said stubbornly. He thought Luke might come and find him after he got the rest of the townsfolk to safety. Then together, maybe they can figure out a way to restrain this woman without having to hit her. He just needed to buy some time, Gill thought.

"Fine. Works for me", Alice said and then her arms and legs blurred into flurry of kicks and punches. Gill tried his best to block or to avoid them but more and more of her kicks and punches connected. Finally, Alice grabbed his shoulder with both of her hands, pulled him towards her, and drove her knee hard into his stomach.

"Oof..."Gill fell on his knees in front of Alice. She spun and kicked him mercilessly at the side of his head, causing him to crash into the ground beside Arashi. Alice leaped and landed on him, straddling him, then she bent her face towards his face, opened her mouth and inhaled. Gill convulsed as he felt as if his strength was being sucked out of him.

"Get off him!" A foot clad in heavy work boot kicked Alice in the face, sending her flying backwards.

"Sage!"

Sage placed herself between Alice and the two men who were lying, gasping, on the ground. "What did you do to them?" she barked at Alice.

Alice rubbed the spot on her face where Sage just kicked her. "You could have ruined my face, you idiot! You are going to pay for that!". She leaped at Sage, only to ram into an invisible barrier. As Alice staggered back from the impact, Sage willed a fire ball to form in her hand. She stepped towards Alice slowly.

"A witch! Wonderful...", Alice smiled, showing her perfect teeth, but her eyes were cold. "Don't kill her, Charles".

"What? Ow!" Sage yelped as something bit her in the neck. The fire ball fizzled and her hand instinctively went to her neck. She felt her neck and pulled out a small dart.

"What the...?" Sage dropped to the ground before she could finish her sentence.

"Good timing, Charles" Alice nodded at her assistant who had emerged from a dark corner.

"Don't touch her...", Gill rasped.

"Or what, blondie?" Alice sneered. Then her ears picked up a subtle noise. People were coming this way, she thought. Those pesky Leaf Valley people! Alice was furious. She just couldn't believe that they actually found her and dared to storm her mine. She was indecisive for a split second, but then her greed won at the end.

"Grab the girl. We are leaving", she said, turning her back abruptly, walking quickly towards a door on the back of the room.

"Yes mam", Charles lifted the unconscious girl onto his shoulder.

"No...No.." Gill desperately trying to get up but his whole body felt weak. He heard Arashi beside him, gasping, struggling to get up as well.

Luke, Jack and Kurt stormed into the room and found Gill and Arashi lying on the ground.

"Gill! You okay?" Luke grabbed Gill's arm.

"They...they took her...please...get her back" Gill gestured at the door which Alice and Charles had disappeared into. I am so stupid, Gill cursed at himself. Stupid. Stupid. She got hurt because of me, and I have promised that I would keep her safe.

Luke nodded and jumped to his feet. He ran through the door. However, after a few minutes he came back, his face fell. "They are gone. Sorry", Luke told Gill.

"We'll find her. Don't worry", Jack said. "We'll find her. Meanwhile, let's get you out of here".

As the men made their way out of the mine, they found that the fight was over. All of Alice's goons were either captured, dead, injured or ran away. The townsfolk helped Luke searched the mine, but Alice, Charles and Sage were nowhere to be found. Shea told them that he would track them down and slunk away towards the woods. With help of the few townsfolk, Jack brought Gill and Arashi back to his house so the two could recover...

Meanwhile, away from the mine, Sage opened her eyes and found that she was lying on what looked like a leather sofa in a small, moving box. And as she tried to move her arms, she found that her hands were tied above her head, her palms facing each other. Not again, she groaned as her stomach turned into a knot. Alice turned her head and gazed at Sage in the backseat.

"Ah, you are awake. Good. We are on our way to see the professor who would definitely pay a high price for you..." Alice glanced at Charles who sat beside her, piloting the box, then turned her head to Sage once again, "But you know, I think my assistant here is hungry. And to reward him for capturing you, I think I will let him spend some time with you". Alice nodded at Charles, "We need her alive. Don't kill her".

Charles smiled at Alice and stopped the odd, moving box. They both climbed out of the box. Alice stretched her limbs and leaned against the side of the box, crossing her arms.

Charles opened the back door of the box and climbed on top of Sage, straddling her. His eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"This is one of my inventions you know", he bent towards her and whispered, his finger traced the contour of her neck. "I am thinking of calling it an automecha, what do you think? Impressive huh? A genius and good looking. You are one lucky girl".

"Get off me, you freak", Sage struggled.

"Oh, I am a freak alright", a slow, predatory smile formed on Charles' handsome face. "Just how freaky, you have no idea", he said as he wrapped his hands around her neck, and greedily inhaled her life force.

A small smile formed at the corner of Alice's mouth, as she heard Sage screamed.

End of Chapter 21


	22. Chapter 22: Don't Play With Fire

Author's note: one of my friends who read this story mentioned yesterday how she noticed how, for a farming game fanfic, the characters in this story rarely do any farming at all. Yeah, sorry about that. The story just kinda grew arms and legs and ran away by itself. For my next harvest moon fanfic, I will try my best to write more about farming. Maybe. Hopefully. Heck, who knows :o)

Chapter 22: Don't Play with Fire

Gill looked out of the windows of Jack's living room, and thought, come on, Shea, where are you? Have you found her yet? Thinking of Sage, his heart caught for the umpteenth time. Come back to me safely, he silently pleaded with her. If you do, I promise I will let you turn my life upside down as many times as you want. He sighed. Shea had gone to track Sage down, while the rest of the group had camped out in Jack's house in the Leaf Valley, to let Gill and Arashi recuperate.

Gill crossed the living room and started to browse Jack's bookcase. He felt that he ought to do something, anything. The waiting was driving him crazy. Mostly farming and ranching books, he thought, as his eyes scanned the content of the bookcase. Then he caught a sight of a small, intricately carved, wooden box.

The box had no lock, so Gill carefully lifted the lid and peered inside. Blue feathers! Gill thought. He had heard of them of course, his father Mayor Hamilton, had talked about them many times, but Gill had never seen one in his life. The blue feathers had been getting rarer and rarer in the Harmonica Town, so people have been getting married without them, in the past few decades...

"Do you know what they are for? The blue feathers?" Jack's voice broke Gill's train of thought.

"Yes, in Harmonica Town, we used to use them to propose..."Gill answered him. "But it's pretty rare from where I come from, so I have never actually seen one. It's quite impressive that you have so many of them" Gill replaced the box lid.

"Oh yeah, about that. I collected them when I was trying to propose to my wife, Dia. I was so nervous about proposing, thinking that I might be making a mistake. So, I would collect one blue feather, go to her house, loose my courage and go home. The next day I would do the same thing all over again, collect a blue feather, go to her house, fail to propose and go home. Everyday I did that, and suddenly, I have this box full of blue feathers", Jack grinned sheepishly.

"You know how it is. Bachelor life was so simple and straightforward. I was afraid that I would find, that married life just didn't suit me. But, I finally did it anyway, I proposed to her. And, it turned out to be the best decision I have ever made", Jack continued. "Anyway...since the blue feathers are so rare in the Harmonica Town, why don't you take one? Heck, you can take them all if you want to. I don't need them anymore..." Jack waved his hand as he walked out of the living room.

Gill hesitated for a moment, then finally, he lifted the box lid and took one of the blue feathers. Then there was a loud noise, startling him. The window of the living room had been broken as Shea hurtling himself into the room and landed, crouching on one knee on the floor. Jack came running from the other room, as Luke and Ann burst through the front door.

"Oh Shea, no! Come on! You gotta learn how to use the door one of these days. I just fixed that window from the last time you are here", Jack moaned.

"Sorry, Jack", Ann said, "We did try to convince him to use the door. But I don't think he understand".

Shea looked at Jack with a puzzled expression, then he said, "I find girl. I take you there. Come"...

Meanwhile, in a basement of a house somewhere, Sage was lying on a single mattress on the floor. Her stomach had knotted in fear, but she refused to show them how afraid she was. She looked at the people towering above her and wished that she could get up and blasted them all with her fire balls. However, the incubus called Charles, had fed on her, leaving her as weak as a newborn.

"One hundred thousand pieces of gold for her, Professor Daryl", Alice told a stooped, short man standing beside her.

The short man pushed his glasses up his nose, "First, I want to see what she can do".

Alice prodded Sage with her foot, "Come on witch, show him what you could do..." When Sage didn't move, Alice smiled at her, "...or, I will let Charles spend some more time with you..."

If look could kill, Alice would have keeled over dead from the look that Sage gave her. But sadly, it couldn't, so Sage had no choice, but to slowly open her right palm and will a small fireball, the size of a candle light, to form. In her present state, that was all she could manage. The fire flickered on her palm for a few seconds, and then disappeared in a wisp of smoke. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Daryl. He rubbed his hands together and told Alice that he would pay her price.

While Alice and Daryl were finishing their transaction, Charles knelt beside Sage and whispered to her, "Sorry, girl. It has been fun but you are just not the one for me. So this is where we say goodbye. And remember, it's you, not me".

"Go to hell", Sage hissed at him. But Charles merely chuckled and rose.

After Alice and Charles left, Daryl peered at his latest prized possession. A witch, he thought excitedly, rubbing his hand together.

"Why are you doing this?" Daryl just realized that the witch was talking to him.

"Why?" He said, pacing the room. "Why not? I am going to collect all the magical creatures, study them and write about them. And the world will recognize my brilliance. All those people who made fun of me, will know how much smarter I am than them!"

"You don't need to do this. I...I am sure that your friends and family can see how smart you are, without you doing this".

"Friends?" Daryl thought of his childhood, and rage built in his stomach. "You mean all those kids who used to make fun of me and beat me up all the times? No! I don't need friends! I don't want friends!" He looked at the witch and saw a familiar expression on her face, but for a moment he couldn't figure out what it was.

"I...I am sorry that other kids were mean to you when you were small. That's not what friends do. I wish I could do something, but I know that no amount of wishing could change your childhood. But do you...do you realize that you are being as cruel as those kids if you keep people here against their will...", Sage said, hesitating. "I am sorry Daryl for what you have been through. I really am. But don't do this, let me go. Let me be your friend, and I'll show you what friends will do for each other", she continued.

Pity, it was pity, Daryl thought. His blood boiled. "I don't need your pity, witch!" Daryl yelled at her, as he went out of the room and slammed the door.

"He...he will never let us go..." A small, quivering voice came from a dark corner, across the room. Sage focused her eyes on the source of the voice. There was a mermaid with green hair looked back at her, from inside a water tank. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was trembling

"Don't worry, we are getting out of here. My friends will find us and get us out of here", Sage closed her eyes, trying to believe that herself. But they didn't know where she was, she thought. Please, I don't want to die here. I don't want my life to end here, Goddess, not like this, in this bare room with no window. Her eyes started to water at that thought. Gill, please come and get me, she pleaded silently, her cheeks wet with tears. She pleaded some more, wholeheartedly, but no one burst into the darkened room to save her, and Sage had no choice but to cry herself to sleep.

The next day, Sage woke up with a jolt as the door was flung opened. Daryl came in carrying a tray of food, which he placed on the floor by the door. She decided that she would try to talk to him again. "Daryl..."

But Daryl ignored her and went to the mermaid. He poked the young mermaid and told her that maybe he would cut out some scales off her tail today for his collection. This made the mermaid cry and she begged Daryl not to hurt her. But Daryl merely sniggered at her cruelly.

"Why you...you...so cruel..." Sage stuttered, as she watched Daryl torturing the poor mermaid.

Sage rose slowly, heat building in her stomach. Temper rose in her like hot lava, boiling, bubbling and burning. She thought of the Witch, Alice, Charles and everyone else who had hurt her. There were so many evil and monsters in the world, her rage whispered to her. She couldn't take it anymore. She had enough of beatings, of being bitten, of being fed upon, of being sacrificed. She had bled enough. She had witnessed so much evil and enough is enough, no more! She couldn't think straight as she felt as if her whole body was consumed by fire, and furry screamed in her mind telling her to finish this evil man once and for all. In her mind, she saw all the people who had hurt her stood by Daryl, and she saw red.

Daryl turned his back slowly to face Sage. The girl's eyes glowed golden in the semi-darkness, and fire balls grew in each of her hands. The girl put her hands together and the fire balls grew and grew. First, it was about the size of a human head, then double, then triple. Daryl gasped.

"Sage, no!" Gill said. His hand reaching out to her. Behind him, Luke, Jack, Shea, Ann and Arashi were watching, horrified. Sage's eyes, the whole eyes, pupils and all, had turned golden, and she was holding a huge fireball with both of her hands.

"Please, my love, don't do this", Gill pleaded. "If you kill him, you will regret it for the rest of your life, I know. It will eat you alive. Please, look at me, Sage. No, look at me! Don't look at him! I love you. Don't do this!"

Gill. Sage gasped. It was as if a bucket of cold water was thrown upon the fire of rage that consumed her. She blinked and her eyes slowly returned to normal. Her fires sizzled. She fell down to her knees, breathing hard. Gill rushed towards her and gathered her in his arms.

"Arashi?"

Arashi turned his head. "Leia, how did you end up here?"

Leia burst into tears as she explained to Arashi that she had wanted to visit him in the Harmonica Ocean, but she had gotten lost and was captured by Daryl instead. Arashi stroke her hair gently to calm her and told her that she was safe now, and she would be home soon. Then he went and squatted by Sage and Gill.

"How are you feeling, Sage?"

"I...I am okay. What happened?" Sage felt as if she had just awaken from a bad dream.

"Well...let's just say, that I don't think I ever want you to get upset with me", Arashi said with a smile.

Daryl, Sage thought, and turned her head towards him. Daryl was sitting on the floor, cowering. Sage stood up and approached him.

"Daryl...I am sorry..."

"Stay away! Stay away from me! You are a monster!" Daryl screamed.

Sage's face fell. Never in her life, she would ever thought that she would become the very creature that she used to fear so much. Her shoulder sagged. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, as tears slid off her cheek to her chin, dripping to the floor. It's true, I am a monster, she whispered. Then she felt a pair of arms embracing her from behind, warm, strong arms.

"No, you are not, dearest", Gill whispered in her ear, "You are my Sage, my love. The strongest and kindest woman I have ever known". He held her tighter, resting his chin on her shoulder, "And I won't let you go. I will always be here, with you".

The fire witch does exist, Shea thought excitedly. I must tell Wada, he thought as he slunk away without anyone else noticing. I must tell Wada, that the prophecy is about to come true.

End of Chapter 22


	23. Chapter 23: Cooking and Mountain

Author's note: I don't think there is a mountain on Island of Happiness, but in this story, there is.

Chapter 23: Cooking Contest and Exploding Mountain

"Cooking contest?" Sage raised her eyebrows as she looked at Luke. Luke, Ann, Gill, Arashi and herself were sitting around a table having lunch, in a town called Island of Happiness.

"Yeah," Luke said as he chomped down his lunch. He was starving. "Ann and I had asked around about this cooking contest and we think that the first prize is a rune stone".

"Cooking contest, huh? No problem. We've got Ann. She will win this contest, for sure", Sage sipped her tea.

"Me?" Ann looked up from her lunch.

"Yeah, you", Sage smiled at Ann. "You are our secret weapon. You are gonna show the locals how to really cook".

"You are going to win, baby doll. I think you are the best cook in the world!" Luke was blushing a little as he said this.

"Okay, I won't let you guys down", Ann's eyes flashed with determination. "But I need some ingredients..." she rattled off a long list of items. "Luke, myself and Arashi are going to shop for vegetables and spices. Sage and Gill are going to hunt down all the meats we need. Okay people, let's go! We don't have much time! The cooking contest is going to start soon" she barked as she rose, while the rest of group groaned in response...

"And the winner is..." Pierre paused for effect. Ann held her breath. She glanced towards the crowd of spectators, hoping to spot her friends. Ah yes, there they were, all four of them, looking at her with expectant faces.

"The winner is Ann, from the Mineral Town!" The crowd roared. Luke jumped up and down, while Sage was hugging Gill so fiercely, she looked as if she was trying to squeeze blood out of him. Arashi flashed a thumb-up and a brilliant smile at Ann.

"I couldn't believe it. Our second rune stone", Sage gasped as the group gathered and looked at the small stone that Ann had just won.

That was when the ground shook.

"What the..."

"Fire witch!" Out of nowhere, Shea came running to them.

Sage twitched, "I would really prefer you call me Sage, instead of fire witch".

"Come. The mountain explode. You stop it. Come, fire witch" Shea gestured at Sage impatiently.

Sage sighed and shook her head. But really, what choice did she have?

"It's Sage! Not fire witch, Sage!" Sage yelled at Shea as she ran after him, the rest of the group trailing behind her.

Shea took them through the woods to the mountain. As the group arrived, the mountain roared, as it was about to erupt, shaking the ground. They found Wada, sitting calmly on the ground, cross-legged. Wada beckoned at Sage to approach him.

"You go inside...", he gestured at a dark cave located on the foot of the mountain. "Go to lowest floor. Take stone from ring of fire. Stop mountain", he continued. "Only you can do".

Sage looked at the mountain and her heart sunk. She looked up the sky furiously. I'll get you for this, universe, she thought. But then she thought about that small island, with this mountain in the middle of it, and about all the people on this island, and she knew that she would have to do it. So she started towards the cave.

"I'll come with you", a hand on her shoulder. "You guys stay behind", Gill told the others. The rest of group protested. Wada lifted his hand to silence them.

"You can go in. But only witch can pass through ring of fire. Only witch can do".

"You hear the man. No use for all of us to go in there. So stay here" Gill said, as he held on Sage's hand. Together, hand in hand, they entered the cave.

They descended further into the belly of the mountain. The cave was dark and reminded Sage of the mines in the Harmonica Town.

"Just like old times, huh? When we were looking for the black pearl", Gill said.

"Yeah..." Sage thought of those good old days with longing. Those were the days when all she had to face was poisonous gasses and moles. Good old days.

On the lowest floor, in the middle of it, as Wada had promised, there was a small island surrounded by a sea of fire. There was a narrow path, just enough for one person to pass, snaking through the sea of fire into the island. In the middle of the island, Sage and Gill could see a rock pillar with a rune stone planted in the middle of it. The narrow path to the island was blocked, as Wada had also promised, by a ring of fire.

"Are you sure about this?" Gill asked her in a low voice.

"Yeah...we need that rune stone, and we can't let the people of this island get hurt".

"I'll do it. You stay here", Gill said, starting towards the path.

"No...", Sage stopped him. "You heard Wada. It has to be me". She pulled Gill towards her and kissed him long and hard, harder than she had ever kissed before. "Wait here, I love you, I'll be back. Promise", she whispered. Then she released him and stepped towards the path.

"Sage..." Gill called out to her. His voice was a little coarse, his breathing a little hard.

"Yes?" She looked at him over her shoulder.

"When we get back to Harmonica Town, promise me one thing..."

"Sure. Anything".

Gill thought of the blue feather, safely tucked in his pack. Complications be damned, he thought. "Promise me that you'll marry me", he said.

Sage smiled at Gill as her heart swelled, feelings rushing in. That's my Gill, she thought. Perfect in everything, except for his timing. "I promise", she said.

Then she turned to face the fire, her eyes turning golden as she stepped into the ring.

End of Chapter 23


	24. Chapter 24: Epilogue

Chapter 24: Epilogue

As soon as Sage took the rune stone out of the Mountain cave, the Mountain had calmed down and did not erupt. According to the Legend of Gill and Sage, they were able to collect all the rune stones and went home safely to the Harmonica Town.

They had stopped on the way, to drop Ann in the Mineral Town. When they were about to leave, Luke had told them sheepishly that he was going to stay in the Mineral Town for a bit. He told them as his face turned crimson, that he had been talking to Doug, Ann's father, and Doug had mentioned to him that he needed to hire a good carpenter to build additional rooms for the Inn. The Kappa working in the Inn, had been attracting many more visitors to the Mineral Town and Doug needed extra rooms to house them all.

Sage, Gill and Arashi had put together the three rune stones and buried it at the root of the Goddess Tree. As soon as they did that, the Goddess Tree started to show a sign of life, and over the course of weeks, months, and years, it grew stronger, and the town and the ocean flourished once more.

Sage and Gill was married on a beautiful Autumn day at the Harmonica Town church. Most of the Harmonica Townsfolk had attended the wedding ceremony except for Luna, who had returned to the big city, to her old job as a pop idol, as soon as she heard of Gill and Sage's engagement. Gale had given Sage away, which made most of the townsfolk wondered what was the actual relationship between those two. Most of them still couldn't believe that the young fortune-teller was Sage's grandfather. Over time, they had chalked it up as one of Sage's eccentricities.

During the wedding ceremony, Owen proposed to Kathy and she agreed to marry him in the coming winter. Swept up by the emotion which usually accompanied weddings, and because his hair turned out exceptionally fine that day, Julius had blurted out a love confession to Candice, which caused the poor girl to turn crimson and bolted out of the church.

Doug, Ann and Luke had come to the wedding, along with Jack and Dia. Shea and Wada had come as well, to the horror of the Goddess priest, Perry, as Shea smashed through the church stained glass window to get in. The bride's face was beet red as she stammered out an apology to Perry, and a promise that she would fix the window as soon as possible.

Another person who didn't show up at the wedding was Arashi. Sage found a letter and a pair of emerald earrings in her mailbox on the morning of her wedding. Arashi stated in the letter that he was sorry that he couldn't come to her wedding, but he had gone along with a couple of his mermen brothers on another adventure, away from the Harmonica Town. He had also cheekily suggested in the letter, that if this marriage thing with Gill didn't work out, Sage ought to let the mermen of the Harmonica Ocean know, and he would come back for her, to sweep her off her feet into a life of excitement, romance and adventure.

Sage and Gill would live in the big farmhouse with Grandpa Gale, and they would eventually have two kids. Their older son would have silvery hair like his Great Grandfather Gale, and Sage's amber eyes. The boy's temperament however, would be closer to Gill, as he turned out to be a serious and quiet boy. He could often be found sitting in the Town Hall office, reading a book quietly, as he waited for his father to complete his work, so they could walk home together. When the boy was six years old, he managed to light the fireplace with a flick of his fingers. Great Grandpa Gale was ecstatic and decided to take the boy as his apprentice.

Their younger daughter would have honey brown hair and brown eyes, resembling her Great Grandmother Angela. In contrast to her older brother, the little girl had a very sunny and friendly disposition. She loved animals and plants and could be seen trailing behind Sage, babbling excitedly, as Sage went around to do her chores at the farm. The little girl's magical power never seemed to grow beyond the ability to see the Harvest sprites, just like her father. Which was just fine with Sage, as she hoped that her daughter would have the normal life that she had never had.

And the rest, as it had been said many times before, is history.

The End

Author's note: Thank you everyone who had been reading. I hope you enjoy this story. I know the ending may seem abrupt but I thought that story had gone long enough, I need to end it so I can work on other stories. I am taking a week off, going camping with some friends. Then when I come back, I am going to work on "Half of My Soul", my second HM fanfic, a supernatural/romance story. Unfortunately, that story will be rated M (sorry). Thanks again. See you on the next story!

PS: After I finished my second HM fanfic, I may go back and re-write Chapter 23. I have planned to have more than 1 chapter for the Prophecy of the Exploding Mountain. But I really, really want to start my second fanfic, and I don't want to leave anybody hanging, not knowing how "Bound" is going to end, so Chapter 23 was a very condensed version of the prophecy. If anyone interested in doing a re-write for Chapter 23, please let me know. I really don't mind. Just send me a pm. Thanks.


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